Nigeria - The Challenges of True Federalism
And Resource Control In Nigeria is divided into two main parts.
Part one deals with federalism whilst Part two extensively
canvassed the notion of resource control as an ingredient
of true federalism. The author in a rather pragmatic approach
examines the principles of federalism as enunciated in the
1951 and 1954 constitutions. He agrees with leading constitutional
lawyers and writers that the origin of federalism in Nigeria
is traceable to the Macpherson Constitution of 1951. In chapter
two, he, brilliantly highlighted attempts made through constitutional
engineering in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions to achieve
true federalism. With reference to section 134 - 136 of the
1960 constitution, he examines issues relating to fiscal autonomy
and Resource Control. He exhaustively treated the call for
Sovereign National Conference (SNC) in this chapter. Using
the Constitutional Conferences of 1957 and 1958 as the main
thrust of his argument, he rejects the notion of (SNC) in
favour of a Constitutional or National Conference. Chapter
three shows how successive military regimes succeeded in turning
the country to a unitary state. The absolute power of the
federal military government and the supremacy which that implied
certainly did not allow for federalism to flourish. The author
devoted the whole of chapter four to examining the division
of powers between the federal government and the states. This
is as enumerated in the constitution. Readers will readily
be attracted to the bold and incisive treatment of Sharia
Law and the 1999 constitution in chapter eight. Akpo Odje
gave a lucid and scholarly scrutiny of the constitutional
provisions and judicial pronouncements on the issue. Credit
must be given to the author for the volume of materials and
dept of research conducted in what is figuratively a virgin
and totally unexplored part of our law. Full marks however
must be given for his ability to effectively harness his knowledge
of various aspects of law and weave them together to produce
easily the best compedium in the subject matter.

The author's analytical review of the
term "natural resources" in chapter nine and his
indept discussion of the problems associated with control
of natural resources set the tone for an exhaustive examination
of the development and origin of crude oil in Nigeria. A masterly
analysis of the Petroleum Act coupled with effusive comments
on terms like continental shelf, territorial waters"
and the principle of derivation under the 1979 constitution
prepares the reader for what I consider to be the most comprehensive
discussion of Resource Control. Chapter 10 gave the author
the opportunity to highlight the glaring distinction between
derivation and Resource control. This is quite understandable
considering that many people are erroneously made to confuse
the struggle for resource control as synonymous with agitation
for abrogation of onshore/offshore dichotomy. The celebrated
case of Attorney General of the federation V Attorney General
of Abia State & 350rs presented a clear framework for
addressing the issue. Chapter 13 titled "Resource Control
and True Federalism In Nigeria is a fitting climax to the
authors endeavour. Although it is not the last chapter of
the book, it clearly represents the heart and soul of the
whole enterprise. The thrust of the authors postulation here
is simple "ie that a true federalism will guarantee resource
control: Truly these are the twin concepts that form the focus
of the book and indeed they complement each other. There are
few lapses in the book which we must not ignore. Firstly the
author did not build his discussion of Federalism on a theoretical
or conceptual framework. One ordinarily would have expected
an indept examination of both the concept and the types of
federalism. Perhaps, it would have been easier at the end
of his treatise to locate his analysis within the context
of a given theoretical framework. The omission of this critical
scholarly premise, though inexcusable, may not be unconnected
with a desire to keep the book within manageable size. Secondly,
the author would have been expected, even at the risk of delaying
the publication, to ensure a thorough and scholarly critique
of the Supreme Court judgment on the interpretation of section
162 (2) of the 1999 constitution. It is most evident that
the book would have been greatly enriched by the author's
commentary on the judgment. Prof. Azinge is the Director of
Research, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Abuja.

From AllAfrica.com, by Epiphany Azinge,
29 December 2002

Public Servants Who
Must List Their Riches

All public officers beginning with
the President down to the councillor must submit their declarations
of wealth when the Public Officers Ethics Bill, 2003, becomes
law. Others who must declare their wealth are the Speaker
of the National Assembly, the Clerk and officers in the Parliamentary
Service Commission in Job Groups P and above, the Bill, published
yesterday, says. The Bill names various commissions which
will ensure codes of ethics are strictly adhered to. It will
be the responsibility of each commission to spell out a code
of ethics, including in the military, which public officers
will be expected to obey. When it becomes law, each public
officer in service, or before employment, will be required
to fill a form declaring wealth and liabilities. Civil servants
in Job Group P and above will also be required to declare
their wealth. In the Judiciary, the Chief Justice will lead
other judges - both High Court and Appeal - as well as magistrates
and officers in Job Groups R2, M4 and above and officers under
the administration of the CJ in Job Groups H and above or
their equivalent, in revealing their riches. In local authorities,
councillors, public officers on salary scale 3 to 1 and officers
under the administration of the chief officer in Job Groups
H and above or their equivalent will be required to declare
their wealth. In the teaching service, those affected will
be the chairman and members of the Teacher's Service Commission,
the secretary and deputy secretary of the TSC and public officers
in Job Groups P and above.

Principals, headmasters, head teachers
and graduate teachers in Job Groups P and above will also
be required to declare their wealth. Co-operative societies'
committee members and the two most senior public officers
of a co-operative society who are not members of the committee
will be required to do likewise as will public officers of
a co-operative society in Job Groups H and above or equivalent.
State corporations' board members, chief executives, managers,
heads of departments and public officers under the administration
of the chief executive in Job Groups H and above must also
declare their wealth. Those targeted in public universities
are members of the council and senate, vice-chancellors, their
deputies, principals of colleges, registrars and public officers
under the administration of a vice-chancellor in Job Groups
H and above. In the disciplined forces officers of or above
the rank of Lieutenant Colonel or corresponding rank and public
officers under the Chief of General Staff in Job Groups H
and above will be affected by the requirement. Accounting
officers and those under them in Job Groups H and above will
also have to declare their wealth. The officer will be required
to indicate his income, including emoluments and income from
investments for each year. Others are land, buildings, vehicles,
investments and financial obligations. The declaration also
includes a financial statement on the officer's spouse and
dependant children under the age of 18.

From Daily Nation, Kenya, by Mburu Mwangi,
16 January 2003

Strengthen Public-Private Partnership
in Education: PM

Seeking to strengthen public-private
partnership in education, Prime Minister A B Vajpayee today
sought introduction of innovative methods in the field by
asking government educational - Asserting that introduction
of economic reform-driven education was "an urgent imperative",
Vajpayee said while government had considerably hiked spending
on higher education, "it is obvious that the need far
outstrips the provision. "We need to adopt innovative
and flexible methods of leveraging the financial, managerial
and teaching resources in the private sector". The Prime
Minister suggested creation of a partnership between universities,
national laboratories and the industry for enhancing India's
research and development capabilities, calling it a "Golden
Triangle". On educational reforms, he said "it baffles
me that the central and state governments subsidise higher
education even for those students whose spending on private
tuition and pocket money is several times more than their
college fees". "Yes, higher and professional education
must remain accessible and affordable to the poor and the
needy primarily through "merit-cum-means" scholarships.
The scope of educational loans also needs to be vastly expanded.
"But if we cannot make the rich pay fair value for education,
how can we make it widely available to the poor," he
said, pointing out that the fees in non-professional streams
of higher education was "very low".

While Vajpayee laid the foundation
stone for UGC complex through a remote, HRD Minister M M Joshi
activated "UGC Infondt", an internet-based networking
of Indian universities. Joshi announced that Department of
Science was preparing to launch an educational satellite on
behalf of the HRD Ministry to provide distance education and
training to students and teachers. He also elaborated on a
multi-pronged approach to focus on 102 students for integrated
five-year programme relating to imparting of education in
specialised fields like atomic energy, space, bio-technology,
energy, oil exploration and communication. The Minister said
few universities and colleges for undergraduate teaching on
these lines should be identified and few national level institutions
created in collaboration with research establishments like
DRDO, ISRO, DAE and CSIR. He said the newly-launched "UGC
Infonet" would be one of the biggest national networks
exclusively dedicated for education by bringing all universities
and colleges funded by UGC under a single information domain.
Stating that there were 8.8 million students currently in
the formal and non-formal systems of education, he said this
would grow to 14 million by 2007-08 and stressed it was imperative
that such steps were taken to meet the growing demand for
quality education. Minister of State for HRD Rita Verma, HRD
Secretary S K Tripathi, IT Secretary Rajeeva Ratan Shah and
UGC Chairperson Arun Nigavekar were also present on the occasion.

From Outlookindia.com, UK, 28 December 2002

Cabinet Likely to Approve
Corporate Governance Policy

Hyderabad - The Union Cabinet is likely
to give on Thursday its nod of approval to a policy on corporate
governance providing for establishment of a "Serious
Fraud Office" to tackle white collar crimes. Disclosing
this at the concluding session of CII Partnership Summit here
on Wednesday, Union Finance Minister Jaswant Singh said he
would be placing before the cabinet a report on corporate
governance prepared by former Indian Ambassador to US Naresh
Chandra. "We recognise the importance of corporate governance...
The answers to India's problems lie in greater delivery and
not in policies," he said in an extempore address at
the session. Referring to fast-track reforms and a new policy
of openness in his hitherto "conservative" ministry,
Singh said it was decided to "outsource the functioning
of the revenue department". On media projection of the
Kelkar Committee's report, he said, "Regrettably, most
of the attention is focussed on ups and downs of tax rates...
Of course, I agree that tax rates have maximum sex appeal.
But, what is more important is the administrative reforms
and computerization."

Setting aside the prepared speech copy,
Singh chose to speak extempore and quipped, "I have chosen
to speak to you extempore at the cost of my job. My officials
want me to read out from the prepared text so that I do not
commit any blunder before presenting the Budget." Sharing
with the captains of industry his vision for the country,
Singh said it was a matter of "destiny" for India
to lead the world and to attain this destiny was the "ultimate
national interest". "The challenge before us is
to convert country's inherent strengths, intellect, creativity
and entrepreneural skills into recognisable and deliverable
action," he said. The fulfillment promise, he said, was
not possible unless there was creation of wealth, enhancement
of production, continuous reforms and an ability to compete
globally. Referring to the resilience of the Indian economy,
the minister said, despite simultaneous adverse factors like
the worst drought in three decades, global downturn and geopolitical
uncertainties born out of the situation in the Gulf, the country
had achieved consistent GDP growth, enhanced manufacturing
activity, rise in exports and managed to keep prices at reasonable
level. "It is difficult to find countries in world which
can replicate this in the face of such adverse factors,"
Singh said, adding, "It is time that all of us collectively
talk 'India Up' instead of talking 'India Down'."

From Economic Times, India, 08 January 2003

E-gov Market Grows
18% in 2002

The National Association of Software
and Services Companies (Nasscom) today said the e-governance
market in the country grew 18 per cent in 2002, touching Rs
1,400 crore in the process of becoming the fastest growing
vertical in the domestic information technology market. Nasscom
president Kiran Karnik said the market was gaining momentum
but there were hurdles stalling the progress. Karnik said,
to make e-governance a part of administration, the government
must ensure that at least 3 per cent of the Budget was committed
for e-governance and rewrite the tendering and bid evaluation
process among other things, apart from coming out with a clear
roadmap for the sector. "The recommendations, if implemented,
can save up to Rs 500 crore every year in transaction costs
and increase revenues by Rs 2,000 crore through better tax
enhancement," he said. According to Karnik, the return
on investments from all these measures will allow the government
to spend at least Rs 10,000 crore per year on e-governance
initiatives. Speaking on the occasion, R Chandrasekher, joint
secretary in the department of information technology, said
the draft e-governance policy was ready and the final policy
could come out anytime after consultations with the concerned
parties. Karnik said the National Institute of Smart Governance
(NISG) should be made operational by the end of 2003 and all
Class-1 officers of the government should be given compulsory
training in the area of information technology. The process
of tendering and bid evaluation should be rewritten and computerisation
of land records should be completed in all states by the end
of 2004, he added. Identification of core national projects
that needed to be automated and rollout of national citizen
identity cards should also become a reality by 2004, Karnik
said. "By the end of 2005, citizen services should be
offered online in all states and 50 per cent of all procurements
should take place over the Internet."

From Business-Standard.com, 17 January 2003

Call for Innovation
to Drive Knowledge-Based Economy

Members of the information technology
(IT) industry, academia and government yesterday described
innovation as the driving force in transitioning Taiwan into
a knowledge-based economy. The five speakers discussed the
issue at the Innovating Taiwan Summit sponsored by the Taiwan
Thinktank, which has over the years published papers and reports
on the island's economy and ways to strengthen it. "Many
developing countries already have the capabilities to conduct
labor-intensive manufacturing, and Taiwan can no longer compete
with them," said Chen Po-chih, the think tank's chairman,
during the conference's opening ceremony. "To maintain
our competitiveness, we must concentrate on operations that
those developing nations cannot do, and that is making innovative
products supported by research and development (R&D) and
talents, who make up the new knowledge economy." The
meeting invited five speakers: Ko Cheng-en, management professor
of National Taiwan University; Chang Chun-yen, president of
National Chiao Tung University; Stan Shih, chairman of the
Acer Group; Tsai Ching-yen, minister without portfolio; and
Shih Yen-hsiang, deputy minister of the Ministry of Economic
Affairs. The panel was hosted by Chan Hung-chih, publisher
of The Business Next magazine. The panelists addressed challenges
facing Taiwan ¡X especially its accession into the World Trade
Organization and the rise of mainland China ¡X and said innovation
is vital in keeping Taiwan competitive. "The threats
posed by mainland China will always be there. They won't disappear,"
said Shih, who has made Acer a world-class computer brand.
"If you think lower cost is the biggest threat posed
by China, you should see the talented people living there.
I'd say ten years later the threats posed by China will be
greater than those now."

To maintain their edge, Taiwan companies
must develop innovative production and marketing techniques,
Shih said. Specifically, he said Taiwan manufacturers must
make their production processes more integrated, instead of
focusing on divisions of labor. He also called on Taiwan businesses
to first try out their international marketing campaigns in
mainland China. "While the mainland may be viewed as
a threat, it can also be viewed as an opportunity," Shih
said. "Even though Taiwan is small, it can still hold
key components that complete an integrated supply chain. We
must be confident." Speaking from the perspective of
the academia, both Ko and Chang urged universities and research
institutes to be innovative as well. Citing Shih's theory
of a "smiling face," which dictates that companies
should put more resources into R&D and marketing, Ko said
schools must train students for these two operations. "Meanwhile,
in order to prepare the students for a more internationalized
world, schools must teach them about the concept of global
operations, or how to run a company's offices throughout the
world," Ko said. "In addition, we must strengthen
students' entrepreneurial spirit and encourage them to start
their own businesses." Tsai and Deputy Economic Affairs
Minister Shih said the government would continue to make policies
that encourage innovation. They listed the Challenge 2008
project that seeks to devote 3 percent of the nation's GDP
to research and development and sign up 6 million broadband
users to make the island more digitized. Tsai also mentioned
the tax incentives offered to local and international companies
setting up R&D centers in Taiwan. "Some seven or
eight companies have been approved to set up their centers,"
he said.

From China Post, Taiwan, by William C. Pao,
16 January 2003

Giving e-Governance
a Boost in India

The e-governance market in India is
gaining traction, but there are challenges which are stalling
its progress, according to an analysis by NASSCOM, the apex
industry association of software and service companies in
India. The e-governance market is growing (by 18 percent last
year) and is estimated to be Rs 1400 crores (US$290 million)
in size in 2001-02. It is the fastest-growing vertical in
the domestic IT market. NASSCOM's analysis of e-governance
implementation undertaken in 10 key states revealed that the
southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
are leading in terms of implementing projects at different
citizen-government interface points. Others, such as Kerela,
Gujarat, Maharashtra, MP, West Bengal and Rajasthan, are catching
up fast. But, despite the islands of excellence, e-governance
has not been able to make rapid progress due to several operational,
economic, personnel, planning and implementation issues. E-Governance
in India has also focused heavily towards investing in hardware
and very little on developing software and services, which
could maximize hardware investments. Addressing the media,
Mr Arun Kumar, chairman, NASSCOM, said, "We have seen
implementation of some excellent e-governance projects in
few states which have won international awards and are benchmarked
globally. The efforts should be to replicate these in other
parts of the country to benefits the citizens.

The NASSCOM study is aimed towards
clearly identifying the issues faced by this sector and defining
the roadmap for e-governance adoption in the country."
In addition to macro issues, NASSCOM's study has identified
industry level issues, which are inhibiting private participation
in e-governance projects. This includes the absence of a clear
revenue stream offered by the government to the private sector,
which is restricting private, sector investment in e-governance.
There is also inadequate awareness among government officials
at all levels with respect to appropriate tendering, raising
RFPs, software pricing, bid assessment and IPR. The NASSCOM
study has stressed that the government should first focus
on bringing efficiency in governance through better use of
technology. Some key imperatives for the government identified
by the study include ensuring 3 percent of the budget is committed
towards e-governance and the amount be spent in the ratio
of 40:30:30 on hardware, software and services respectively.
The government should also identify project champions who
can push e-governance in government departments and states
and also rewrite tendering and bid evaluation procedures to
encourage private participation. The study suggests the government
to clearly define an e-governance strategy and a roadmap with
measurable timelines which are currently not present.

NASSCOM Recommendations: Phase I: By
the end of 2003 - IT training should be mandatory for all
Class I government personnel; - Tendering and bid evaluation
procedures should be rewritten; - Fully operational NISG;
- NIC role should be clearly defined; - Clear tenures for
IT champions in Central and State levels. Phase II: By the
end of 2004: - Build state wide area networks; - Ratio of
PC:personnel to be 1:4 in all departments; - Identify core
national projects that need to be automated; - Rollout national
citizen ID cards- Computerization of land records in all states;
- State funding from Center to be linked to e-gov spending.
Phase III: By the end of 2005: - Citizen services offered
online in all states; - 50 percent of all government procurement
should be online; - Focus on developing applications for primary
health, disaster management and education; - Accelerate Public
Private Partnership when core infrastructure and procedures
in place; - Secure multilateral funding to accelerate e-gov
spending. Mr. Kiran Karnik said, "If the recommendations
made in the study are implemented by the government, it could
save up to Rs 500 crores in transaction process costs per
year and increase its revenues by Rs 2,000 crores through
better tax enhancement annually. Further, these measures will
increase transparency, efficiency and accountability within
the government. "ROI from all these measures will allow
the government to spend at least Rs 10,000 crores per year
on e-governance. However the government must give special
impetus to e-governance. At present, it is accelerating, but
has the other brakes on," he added.

From Asia Times Online, Hong Kong, 17 January
2003

East Asia: is it Innovation
or Productivity?

Ten years after the report "East
Asia Miracle", the World Bank has found a new catch-phrase
for the region, "Innovative East Asia: the Future of
Growth". World Bank President James Wolfensohn was in
Tokyo recently to highlight the new study and to urge Asia's
economies to "go beyond the imitative phase of development
and into the innovative phase". "Unless East Asia
moves toward a technological rather than a factory-intensive
mode of production, it will experience slower growth in the
future. It is crucial then that the countries of East Asia
seize the initiative and begin laying the seeds for a more
innovative, competitive future," he said. Should you
have the deja-vu impression that such a message has come by
way of Bangkok before, then you are not far wrong. Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra's government has been in this "innovative"
mode for the past two years. And efforts have been put through
to encourage businesses not to compete in areas of mass production,
which is increasingly dominated by factories in China, but
of niche production. The Thai government has identified niche
products which Thai businesses ought to excel in. Fashion
is one; food, health, entertainment and services with a human
touch related to tourism are others. The government thinks
that the one-village-one-product/Bt1-million village-fund
programme, as well as industrial clustering, can nurture innovations.
But really, is finding innovative-product winners a guarantee
for the long-term success of a national economy?

The "East Asia Miracle" did
not prove to be a miracle after all, and the notion was strongly
disputed by economists such as Paul Krugman. Nor did Wolfensohn
strike the right note this time when he said: "If you
are going to be competitive in the market, before we get to
the marvellously attractive issues of innovation, you have
to say that the structural framework must be in place; you
have to have proper legal systems, proper financial systems,
protection of rights, strengthening of governance and regulatory
bodies." True, these may be important economic platforms,
which will help a country to thrive, but surely they have
little to do with innovation. Such a word sounds upbeat in
itself, but really, what should an economy strive for? The
government can facilitate more innovation in society. But
at least in an emerging economy such as Thailand our priority
ought to be "productivity" as much as, or more than,
"innovation". "Productivity" is a word
that the World Bank might have naïvely played down, and one
which the Thaksin government has paid insufficient attention
to. It was productivity which Krugman in his pre-1997 assessment
said was a key missing ingredient to the sustained growth
of the East Asian economy. In his view there was no miracle
at all, because "excessive investment" fuelled strong
economic growth "but with little or no productivity increase".

The oft-quoted McKinsey report on selected
Thai industrial sectors (telecoms, beer, retail etc) mentioned
productivity as the one single key issue facing the future
of the Thai economy. And the beauty of this report is that
money alone does not guarantee increased productivity (though
surely R&D would help), but rather sectoral liberalisation
and a reduction in red tape. This was a recommendation that
was based on rigorous analysis and not half-baked ideas. It
transcends, perhaps, everything we had heard about economic
policy in this country. Moreover, the Thailand Development
Research Institute came out with a supportive recommendation
at the end of last year that the government should pay attention
to both policy and financial efforts in boosting the country's
productivity, so than higher growth would be not only assured
but sustained over time. And thus the new World Bank catch
phrase "innovation" should not be taken for granted
any more than the days of the "miracle". In fact
it might lead Asian governments astray, because not everyone
or every product can be innovative (or can afford to be),
but they can always be more productive. Last but not least,
the use of innovation has unjustly added to the bias towards
the notion of "sunrise and sunset" industries. (Even
the Federation of Thai Industries is caught up in this mode.)
Actually, there should be no such thing as a sunset or sunrise
industry, because every business can be made more productive,
competitive and innovative.

From The Nation, Thailand, by Pana Janviroj,
22 January 2003

'Federalism will unite
divided Sri Lanka'

"This country is already divided.
This is the ground reality. The Sinhalese people have to be
told this. There is no point in talking about history now.
The Indo-Lanka Accord, the Banda-Chelva Pact and the Dudley
Chelva Pact have recognized the separate distinct identity
of the Tamils in the past. The Sinhalese have to be told that
the divided country can be united by granting a federal solution,"
said Prof. S. K Sittampalam, a senior historian, speaking
at a seminar on 'Federalizing the Sri Lankan State' in the
University of Jaffna Sunday. "We have the same claim
to this island as do the Sinhalese. The Tamils and Sinhalese
are the common inheritors of the civilization that appeared
on the island around 900 B.C," Prof. Sittampalam said.
Dr. Rohan Edirisingha, senior lecturer in law in the University
of Colombo, stressed the need for understanding the nature
of unitary and federal systems and their basic features. He
said that there is a lot of ignorance among the Sinhala people
about the federal system of regional autonomy and that much
needs to be done to educate them on the matter. "Many
of them think that it could be a stepping stone to separation,"
Dr. Edirisingha said. He appealed for greater dialogue between
Tamil and Sinhala intellectuals and opinion makers on the
federalism during his presentation on Saturday. "The
southern polity is not prepared to accept Sri Lanka as a pluralist
state.

Therefore how do we 'sell' the idea
of federalism to the (Sinhala) majority? Is there enough to
get out of this ghetto mentality and accept Sri Lanka as a
pluralist state?" asked Mr. V. T Thamilmaran, senior
lecturer in law in the university of Colombo, in his presentation
at the seminar Sunday. "Internal self-determination should
guarantee a judicial mechanism to ensure and uphold real self
rule and shared sovereignty. Otherwise a federal constitution
based on the principal of internal self determination would
be nothing more than a piece of paper. It would have no more
value in its application than the paper on which it is written
on," Mr. Thamilmaran said. "Internal self-determination
should also guarantee territorial identity and strike a balance
between the rights of individuals and the rights of a group,
providing for a bill of rights charter in which special protection
for the group should not be construed as a violation of the
principle of equality," he added. Mr. Thamilmaran pointed
out that Articles 2, 3, 4, 75, 76 and 82 of the Sri Lankan
constitution preclude the possibility of setting up a constituent
assembly to draft a new constitution for Sri Lanka. The two
day seminar and workshop were supported by the Fredrich Ebert
Stiftung Foundation (Germany) in Colombo.

From TamilNet, Sri Lanka, 19 January 2003

Sri Lanka, Tigers to
Discuss Federalism During Berlin Round

Colombo: Sri Lanka's peace negotiators
will discuss the structure of a federal State that will form
the basis of a final settlement to the island nation's ethnic
conflict when they meet in Berlin, the Government's chief
negotiator said today. "I will have discussions with
Dr. Balasingham on the structure of a federal system,"
said G. L. Peiris, who is also the Constitutional Affairs
Minister, referring to the agreement reached in December with
Tamil Tigers' chief negotiator to settle for a power-sharing
arrangement based on federalism. Peiris said he will hold
political talks with Dr Anton Balasingham on the sidelines
of the fifth round of peace talks in the German capital from
February 7 to 8. He said the talks shifted to Germany from
the regular venue in Thailand because of the "fragile
health" of Balasingham, 64, who is a diabetic patient
with a kidney transplant. The peace talks limited only to
two days instead of the usual four due to Balasinham's condition,
will focus on human rights and humanitarian issues. Peiris
and Balasingham are in a sub- committee appointed by the two
sides to take up political matters. The Government and the
LTTE entered into a ceasefire arranged by Norway in February
and formal face-to-face talks opened in Thailand in September.
Peiris said the former head of Amnesty International, Ian
Martin, will be in Berlin to help both sides address human
rights issues as they continue their peace process. After
the Berlin round, the talks are scheduled to take place in
Tokyo on June 16 and 17, where host Japan has arranged an
international aid donors' meet, Peiris said.

From The Hindu, India, 29 January 2003

Study Reveals Bleak Picture of Rural
Life

A bleak picture of life in the rural
North-East emerges today from a study of the region's countryside.
The State of the Countryside report shows that, compared to
the rural areas of other regions, the North-East has: The
highest level of joblessness and mortality rates. An ageing
population with more people over 45 than in urban areas. One
of the least qualified workforces. The lowest proportion of
rural businesses per 10,000 population and use of the Internet.
The lowest average weekly pay. The lowest numbers of farmers,
partners, directors and managers in agriculture and horticulture.
The least number of market towns - regarded as the economic
and social engines of rural areas. The study was carried out
by the Countryside Agency, whose North-East regional director
Keith Buchanan said: "There are huge decisions to be
made if we are to bring about the changes that will ensure
a lasting revival of our rural economy." Prof Philip
Lowe, director of the Centre for Rural Economy at Newcastle
University, is also a national board member of the Countryside
Agency with responsibility for the North-East. He said: "These
regional statistics bring out the fact that we have a very
weak rural economy in the North-East and significant investment
is needed if it is to perform efficiently." National
figures included the well-heeled rural parts of places like
the South-East. But Prof Lowe said: "If there is any
room for complacency at a national level there is none at
a North-East level." But it is not all gloom. The region's
rural landscape, much of its remote, and wider environment
is relatively unspoilt and of high quality. This attracts
better-off commuters who settle in places like the Tyne Valley
and accessible parts of Weardale and Teesdale because they
perceive rural living as offering a better quality of life.
The average rural house price, at £92,312, is the second lowest
of any English region. The North-East countryside is also
a safe place to live. Compared with the rest of rural England,
the region has the lowest rates of robbery, burglary, theft
from vehicles and sexual offences. Thefts from and of vehicles
and burglary rates are half those of North-East urban areas.
Prof Lowe said an upturn in countryside fortunes was in the
interests not just of rural areas but of the whole region.

He said that other parts of the UK
and Europe showed that the most dynamic regions were those
which had a prosperous rural economy. "The North-East
should not rely on the model which says that if you pick cities
up by the bootstraps the rest will follow and the assumption
that it is a region mainly of big urban concentrations and
industries and if we get that right the rest will prosper."
As well as healing the cities we need market towns with buoyant
economies and dynamic small businesses." Prof Lowe said
that the North-East countryside was potentially a great asset
for the region as a whole: "But that potential is far
from being realised." There was a need for initial Government-led
investment and a break from a dependency on the public sector
which saw a third of the region's rural jobs come from public
administration, health and education sectors Countryside Agency
senior regional countryside officer Martin Shaw, said: "In
both North-East rural and urban areas we are starting from
a really low base and that is a big challenge. "We are
not looking for miracle solutions. But we have to show what
the picture is, and then we can begin to put it right. That
is not going to happen overnight but there are some really
exciting things happening in the North-East." What is
being done? The report comes after the Government announced
a £500m national Strategy for Sustainable Food and Farming
and the publication of the North-East's own Rural Action Plan,
which pledges to put rural affairs at the heart of policy-making.
The plan has the backing of the Countryside Agency, Government
Office for the North East, One North East, Association of
North East Councils and the Regional Assembly. The North-East
Rural Affairs Forum, made up of representatives from many
different rural sectors, has the task of monitoring the implementation
of the action plan. Countryside Agency North East regional
director Keith Buchanan said: "Many of the initiatives
being recommended in the wake of Sir Donald Curry's post foot-and-mouth
inquiry are already central to our thinking in the North-East.
Now we must ensure that change happens." Prof Lowe said:
"The Government's new commitment to raise the productivity
of the lowest performing rural districts is therefore welcome
news which needs to be followed through with practical action
and investment in the rural North-East." Initiatives
already under way include the Countryside Agency's Market
Towns and Vital Villages projects.

The Market Towns Initiative has seen
"health checks" of 13 towns - Alnwick, Barnard Castle,
Berwick, Crook, Guisborough, Haltwhistle, Hexham, Middleton-in-Teesdale,
Morpeth, Rothbury, Seahouses, Stanhope and Wooler - and the
development of three-year action plans. Village friends set
up drop-in centre to offer help. One of the strengths of rural
life over the years has been that of tight-knit communities
of familiar faces. Whether this ideal has survived intact
into the 21st Century is a matter for debate. But two friends
have put caring and sharing at the heart of their village
community. Marjorie Fenwick and Sheila Borthwick set up the
Open Arms Group at Leadgate in County Durham as a drop-in
facility offering help, comfort and friendship. The venture
began on a one-day-a-week basis at Leadgate Cricket Club,
with a small start-up grant from Derwentside Council. Then
the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages Scheme, which supports
projects that locals feel will make a difference to their
communities, stepped in with a £22,000 boost. This has enabled
the group to open on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the
cricket club from 9am to 2pm and to provide services such
as meals for those who need such help. Sheila, 72, does the
cooking, while the group is chaired by former nurse Margaret
Jobling. Group co-ordinator Marjorie, 58, and a lifelong Leadgate
villager, said that support was offered to people with anxiety
or depression problems, disabilities, those who have just
left hospital, or who were feeling isolated or lonely. "It
is a group for people who need people. We are open to anybody
who needs us, or a place where somebody is on hand to talk
to or listen," said Marjorie. "This sort of facility
is needed. Even young people get lonely. One of our rules
is that of total confidentiality. We don't label anybody."
The North East study findings are: Population - There has
been a small increase in the number of people living in rural
districts, rising from 9.4pc of the population in 1981 to
9.92pc.But much of the region's rural areas, especially in
Northumberland, are among the most sparsely populated areas
in the country, which has an effect on businesses and the
provision of services.

The region's rural districts have an
older population profile than urban areas with a lower proportion
of people in the three younger age groups (0-14, 15-24 and
25-44) and a higher proportion in the two older age groups
(45-64 and 65+). The region's rural population under 15, at
16.85pc, is the lowest in England while a third of North-East
rural folk are over 45.Martin Shaw said: "There is a
retirement factor with people seeing rural areas as a nicer
place to be. But we need a better cross section of society
and ways of attracting back or hanging on to younger people."
Employment and Education - There are 4,257 full time and 3,083
part time farmers, partners and directors and 218 salaried
managers who are engaged in agricultural and horticultural
employment in the North-East. These are the lowest figures
in these categories in England. Only 3.4pc work in agriculture
and fisheries. But Martin Shaw said: "Agriculture does
not employ many people but farming has a massive input into
what makes the North-East special, which is its countryside.
It is a managed landscape which attracts millions of tourist
pounds." The region has the highest rural unemployment
rate and one of the least qualified workforces in England.
Average weekly pay is the lowest for the rural part of any
region in the country. It is also lower in rural compared
to urban districts in the North-East. The gross weekly rural
pay in the North-East is £286.35, compared to £309.28 in urban
areas. The national average is £322.47.The average rural house
price in the North-East of £92,312 - almost half that of the
South-East- is the cheapest in England apart from the North-West
figure of £88,842.

But this conceals a wide range of prices
in different rural parts of the region. Averages vary from
£50,427 in Wear Valley to £130,887 in Castle Morpeth. Trends
indicate that homelessness is a growing issue in the rural
parts of the region, having risen by 62pc from 1997-8.Rural
people in the North-East are healthier than their urban counterparts.
But in comparison to the rural population in other regions,
the rural North-East has the highest mortality ratio and the
second highest incidence of low weight at birth. Market towns
- Of the 1,274 market towns in England, 82 (6.4pc) are located
in the North-East. They are predominately smaller in size
than in other regions with half having a population below
5,000 people. Services and Rural Mobility - Overall the region's
rural households have better geographical availability of
supermarkets, secondary schools, libraries, job centres, as
well as banks and building societies compared to the national
average. Access to petrol stations is below the English regional
average, but 75pc of North-East parishes have a bus service
six or seven days a week - the highest percentage for English
regions. But there are still parishes which have poor or non
existent services with no permanent shop, post office, public
house or GPs surgery. Business Health and ICT - There are
8,902 rural businesses, or 348 rural businesses per 10,000
population. This is the lowest figure for any English region.
Countryside character and environment - Almost a third of
the region is classified as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty
or national park. The North-East has the highest figure for
unenclosed land and where the land is enclosed, stone walls
and thorn or elm hedges predominate. Access to the countryside
- The North-East has 10,370km of footpaths, bridleways and
byways open to all traffic.

From ICNewcastle, UK, 2 December 2003

Government Issues Safety
Guidelines for Net

Guidelines and campaign launched to
protect children from online paedophiles - Providers of online
services should offer alert systems and filtering mechanisms
to protect children, according to best practice guidelines
issued by the government to clamp down on internet paedophiles.
The Models of Good Practice offer advice to providers of internet
chat, instant messaging and other web-based services, to make
them safer for children. The guidelines were drawn up by the
government's Internet Taskforce on Child Protection, which
includes representatives from government, the internet industry,
child welfare organisations and the police. In a statement
Home Office minister Hilary Benn said: "We are aware
of the potential for paedophiles to misuse modern technology
to abuse the trust that children place in them by attempting
to 'groom' them through chat rooms. "We want to encourage
parents to help their children protect themselves so they
can surf safely." Nicholas Lansman, secretary general
of the Internet Services Providers' Association (ISPA), said:
"Just like the offline world, the online world has its
hazards. "The publication of this good practice shows
ISPA's and the government's commitment to making the UK the
safest place for children to go online." The government
has also launched a £1m 'safer surfing' advertising campaign
to warn of the dangers of internet paedophiles, but without
demonising the internet itself. A series of television adverts
will run throughout January, supported by radio and online
advertising, to encourage parents to make sure their children
understand the dangers of communicating with strangers online.

From VNUNet, UK, by Rachel Fielding, 6 January
2003

Government Websites
Not a Hit With the Public

The government is keen for people to
use the internet to find out about its services and to this
end plans to get all services online by 2005. But if figures
from a recent poll are to be believed they have a long way
to go to persuade most of us that the internet is the place
to look. The survey, which was carried out by ICM on behalf
of Hedra technology consultants. It found that just 14 percent
of respondents would choose to deal with a public body online,
with the majority - 41 percent - preferring to see someone
in person and 29 percent opting to pick up the phone. This
is bad news for organisations like Cima (the Criminal Injuries
Compensation Authority), which is in the process of redesigning
its website to encourage more people to work out claims online
before submitting them in order to cut down on the number
of unsuccessful final applications. Just getting people to
visit websites is an uphill battle as ICM found that over
half of those surveyed (53 percent) had never looked at a
government website. It seems that it isn't security worries
that puts people off - just 34 percent said they wouldn't
use such services online because they felt they were insecure.
Instead poor, unintuitive design is the culprit for 53 percent
who said they would visit government websites only if they
were well laid out and easy to use. Meanwhile, a third of
respondents (31 percent) claimed a site's looks didn't matter
to them. Cost is the overwhelming factor that would have 81
percent of respondents streaming on to government websites.
This huge majority said they would use the internet more if
it saved them money. Perhaps the government needs to tot up
the cost of phone calls, transport and work time lost when
people telephone its departments or turn up in person, and
compare those to the cost of using a website. If it can prove
it's cheaper to use websites than rely on traditional contact
methods, it could be on to a winner.

From PC Advisor, by Ursula Seymour, 10 January
2003

Milburn Set to Increase
Local Control of Healthcare

Local communities will be given control
of the organisations that buy care in the National Health
Service under plans signalled yesterday by Alan Milburn, the
health secretary. The move to make primary care trusts locally
accountable marks a radical extension of the plan to give
top-performing hospitals foundation trust status. It would
mean the government giving up control of the purchasing side
of the NHS as well as the supply side. From April onwards,
primary care trusts will spend three-quarters of England's
NHS budget. The plan was denounced by the Local Government
Association as undermining the existing institutions of local
democracy. Mr. Milburn revealed his intentions during questions
in the Commons. Asked whether he would consider extending
foundation trust status beyond hospitals to other parts of
the NHS, Mr. Milburn said: "In time we will do that."
An official at the Department of Health said: "There
is no reason why primary care trusts could not have similar
governance status to foundation trust hospitals." He
said Mr. Milburn always intended to extend the foundation
trust model to the rest of the NHS - and hoped other departments
would take it up too. "This is about strengthening local
public ownership, moving away from the central state model
of public ownership," he said. "It is a model that
can be applied elsewhere within the NHS. We would want to
make sure primary care trusts could benefit from this form
of modern public ownership." The official said that an
unreported section of the strategy paper "Delivering
the NHS Plan" already stated that "foundation trust
status will also be available to high-performing primary care
trusts". The official said there was an argument - made
by David Hinchliffe, Labour chairman of the Commons health
committee - for giving local people control of the commissioning
bodies, rather than hospitals, to begin with. But he said:
"You have got to start somewhere." He said it would
be easier to persuade people to take part in running their
local hospital - "something they can see for themselves"
- than a purchasing body. Mr. Milburn would concentrate on
getting foundation hospitals up and running before turning
to primary care trusts. "This is a process. It is not
a one-off change. There has to be a step-by-step approach,"
the official said. The idea of extending foundation status
to primary care trusts will infuriate local councils, which
believe they should provide the democratic link between the
NHS and local communities.

From Financial Times, UK, by Krishna Guha
and Nicholas Timmins, 15 January 2003

E-government Needs
Tech-Literate Generation

Younger people are much keener to access
government services online, so e-government success may not
come in the short term, says new report - Public take-up of
local government online services will remain low for at least
the next 10 years, according to a new report. The research,
commissioned by marketing communication consultancy Portfolio
Communications, found that just 7 percent of adults have contacted
their local council online in the past year and that the figure
is unlikely to increase significantly until today's tech-literate
younger generation grows up. The study, based on interviews
with 1,000 adults representative of the entire UK population,
revealed that over 40 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds would
prefer to use the Web to access information from local government,
compared to around 20 percent of 35 to 54 year-olds and just
10 percent of the over-55s. The research concludes that the
government could easily find itself having to justify large
investments without any evidence of mass support for e-services
in the short to medium-term. In addition, considerable education
will have to be carried out by local authorities to encourage
take-up of e-government by their communities, particularly
among older generations. The government itself admitted last
November that public usage of the services currently available
online is low, and aims to add take-up targets to its oft-quoted
aim of getting all public services online by 2005. Mark Westaby,
director of Portfolio, said: "Fast pay-back is a key
driver of public sector services, but this research suggests
that the trend towards use of online local government services
is unlikely to increase dramatically until today's younger
generation gets significantly older. Clearly, this is not
going to happen for some considerable time, possibly a decade
or longer. As a result it will be vital for government not
only to ensure that online services are available, but also
that local communities are educated about the benefits of
using them and are fully incentivised to do so." The
Portfolio study revealed that the telephone currently dominates
as the main method for contacting local councils, regardless
of age, sex, region or social status, the only exception to
these trends being the use of direct debit to pay council
bills. This suggests that local and central government should
embrace the concept of contact centres and other telephony-based
services to meet the clear demand for use of the telephone
across all ages, regions and demographics, according to the
report The research was carried out by ICM during November,
2002.

From ZDNet.co.uk, UK, by Graham Hayday,
17 January 2003

Chancellor Lays Path
for Public Sector Pay Restraint

Chancellor Gordon Brown says inflation-busting
pay rises in the public sector will not be tolerated. Brown
said he wants the massive increases in spending on the public
services, announced in last year's Budget, to be spent on
improving schools and hospitals, rather than be used for pay
hikes. He told the Times that millions of soldiers, teachers
and civil servants are likely to get single-figure pay rises
- in what is seen as a clear attempt to stop massive claims
in the wake of firefighters' demand for a 40 per cent rise.
He told the paper: "We must continue to have discipline
in public sector pay. We will be looking at the reports of
the review bodies over the next few weeks. We are doing this
in an atmosphere of relatively low inflation, the lowest for
30 years or more. "You will see this reflected in the
settlements we make."

From PersonnelToday.com, UK, 17 January
2003

Private and Public
Sector Tourism Forums Announced

NIO Trade Minister Ian Pearson has
announced the setting up of two new bodies designed to boost
the province's tourism industry at a meeting today with the
Northern Ireland Tourist Industry Confederation (NITIC). The
Tourism Strategy Forum and an Inter-Departmental Co-ordination
Group on Tourism have been proposed as key to DETI's 'Tourism
Strategic Framework' which has been devised in association
with the private and public tourism sectors. The meeting also
provided an opportunity for the NITIC representatives to inform
the Minister about their current and future plans, covering
the key cross-sectoral strategic issues and initiatives to
develop tourism in Northern Ireland. Mr. Pearson said: "I
believe that the planned shared approach involving both public
and private sectors is an exciting and very pro-active step.
Given the full commitment and co-operation of all interests,
we can make Northern Ireland a competitive international tourist
destination." NITIC chairman Denis Galway said the move
would "help towards optimizing Northern Ireland's immense
tourist potential". The government's 'Tourism Strategic
Framework' sets out the basic plan for taking forward the
shared approach across the public and private sectors to enable
the tourism industry in Northern Ireland to develop over the
next few years. The framework included three strategic priorities
- co-ordination of government interests, private sector involvement
and a shared approach. The government has said that the creation
of NITIC goes a "considerable way" to meeting the
involvement of the private sector through the establishment
of a group drawn from key industry interests. The other two
priorities will be met by the setting up of an Inter-Departmental
Co-ordination Group and the Tourism Strategy Forum. The Tourism
Strategy Forum will be chaired by the Minister and will normally
meet twice a year.

From 4ni.co.uk, UK, 27 January 2003

Private Partnership, Public Benefit

Waltham - A local partnership will
provide the public a chance to participate in free computer
education and certification. Charles River Public Internet
Center in Waltham and Burlington-based SkillCheck Inc. have
recently announced a partnership that can potentially benefit
thousands of individuals in the city. The series of Internet
and Computing Core Certification courses are set to begin
in mid-January and will allow an equal opportunity for all
residents, rich or poor, to have access to information technology.
"Employers, state boards of education and school administrators
at the K-12 and college level all talk of having computer
literate students and employees, but what does that mean and
how can it be measured?" asked Jon Haber, president of
SkillCheck Inc. "(This course) is the product of three
years of research and development by experts around the globe
to create a set of certification exams that measures the fundamental
skills required to succeed in today's technological world."
SkillCheck Inc. is an organization that specializes in technology
certification and also manages the Microsoft Office Specialist
program. The new courses will be beneficial to many members
of the community, according to Carol Woolfe, director of sales
and marketing at the Charles River Public Internet Center.
"We are extremely excited to be able to provide (this)
certification to the many individuals from the area that we
train," said Woolfe. "In addition to providing facilities
for people in our community to take the exams and become certified,
we are also offering one of the first certification training
programs in the area." Charles River Public Internet
Center is a nonprofit, educational organization that was established
in 1999. The mission of the group is to ensure that every
member of the community has equal access to computers, the
Internet and affordable education and training. The facility
currently has 22 state-of-the-art computers at its 154 Moody
Street location that are available for the public Monday through
Thursday noon until 8 p.m. and Fridays noon until 4 p.m.

White House is 'gutting' law, 9 attorneys
general say. Washington - The Bush administration issued rules
Tuesday to make it easier for industrial plants and refineries
to modernize without having to buy expensive pollution controls
- and immediately was sued by nine states charging that the
changes undermine their efforts to protect public health.
The Environmental Protection Agency regulations, which go
into effect in March, amount to a major change in the way
older industrial plants will have to deal with air pollution
when they expand, make major repairs or modify operations
to increase efficiency. While the administration called the
new approach badly needed to remove barriers to innovation
and increased productivity, the lawsuit - filed only hours
after the changes became final - argues that new breaks given
the industry amount to a "gutting" of the 1970 law
that has been responsible for substantial air quality improvements
over the past three decades. The more relaxed requirements
"will bring more acid rain, more smog, more asthma and
more respiratory diseases to millions of Americans,"
said New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, calling them
"a betrayal of the right of Americans to breathe clean
healthy air." Along with New York, eight other Northeastern
states - Connecticut, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New
Hampshire, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont - joined in
the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington.

Officials in the Northeast are especially
concerned about the potential for increased industrial and
power plant pollution because much of the chemical releases
from coal-burning power plants and older factories in the
Midwest and Ohio Valley drift eastward, making it harder to
meet federal air quality standards in their states. The changes
in the so-called "new source review" regulations
have been in the works since the early weeks of the Bush administration.
A wide range of industries lobbied heavily for an easing of
the rules, arguing they keep companies from making needed
improvements. The nine attorneys general, who filed the lawsuits,
are all either elected Democrats or appointed by a Democratic
governor, prompting EPA spokesman Joe Martyak to suggest political
motives. "There are those who would reach the conclusion
that this appears to be more of a political step than based
on other reasons," he said. EPA and White House officials
have maintained that the regulations - as they were interpreted
and implemented in recent years - have kept companies from
making some changes that would have cut pollution.

U.S. foreign aid programs must be tailored
to protect American national interests, taking into account
a new global reality where "weapons, germs, drugs, envy
and hate cross borders at accelerating rates," a new
government report says. The report, prepared under the direction
of Andrew Natsios, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International
Development, asserts that foreign assistance will become a
key instrument of foreign policy in the coming decades. "For
the United States to prosper and be secure, the world must
prosper and be secure," the study said. It noted that
President Bush's National Security Strategy, unveiled in September
2002, highlights the importance of foreign aid, designating
development as the third pillar of American security, along
with defense and diplomacy. Titled "Foreign Aid in the
National Interest," the report focuses on several key
issues of development assistance: promoting democratic governance
and economic growth, improving health care, mitigating conflicts,
providing humanitarian aid and accounting for private foreign
aid. The report says democracy and good governance "are
required to spur development and reduce poverty in poorly
performing countries. It also is vital to U.S. security."
While democracy has become the world's most common regime
in the past quarter century, the report says there has been
a "growing disenchantment with political leaders seen
by their people as corrupt, self-serving or unable or unwilling
to address economic and social problems." The report
makes these other points: * A growing economy offers the only
long-run hope for a reduction in poverty. U.S. foreign assistance
can speed economic growth by providing better access to U.S.
markets, encouraging foreign direct investment and facilitating
worker remittances. * Most of the world's poor people live
in or come from rural areas. "Raising agricultural productivity
offers economy-wide benefits, such as making food cheaper
for urban residents." * To deal with countries plagued
by internal conflict, U.S. government agencies must invest
in "strengthening the capacity of local institutions
to conduct research on conflict -- and support local discussions
about these issues." Without addressing the root causes,
it will be extremely difficult to devise solutions. The report
recommends a carrot-stick approach to the distribution of
assistance funds, tangibly rewarding good performers while
suspending assistance to countries that lack commitment to
democratic and governance reforms. "The principles of
U.S. foreign policy should extend into international development
- meaning that international financial institutions should
stop financing grossly corrupt, wasteful and oppressive governments,"
the study said.

From San Francisco Chronicle, CA, by George
Gedda, 7 January 2003

Senate Trims e-Gov
Budget Request

The Senate last week squashed the administration's
request of $45 million for an e-government fund for fiscal
2003, and allocated just $5 million-the same amount as in
2002. Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), chairman of the Appropriations
Committee, introduced an omnibus spending bill that included
the decrease. Lawmakers had authorized $45 million for the
fund through the E-Government Act of 2002, but as Senate appropriators
pared spending, the e-government fund came under the axe.
The requested funds would have supported the 25 Quicksilver
e-government projects. The House also appropriated $5 million
for e-government under the Treasury and General Government
bill. Should the Senate number stick, the administration's
plans of spending $100 million on e-government between 2002
and 2004 would be in serious jeopardy. Lawmakers still would
have to negotiate the bill in conference because of differences
over who should manage the funds. The Senate wants the General
Services Administration to manage it, but the House wants
the Office of Management and Budget to dole it out, said a
House Appropriations staff member. The staff member added
the administration has not made a formal request to the Appropriations
Committee to increase the e-government fund to the $45 million
level authorized.

From Washington Technology, VA, by Jason
Miller, 23 January 2003

Field Leaders Seek
Consensus on Public-Policy Agenda

The addiction field can and should
speak with a single voice on issues of mutual concern, such
as the need for prevention and treatment services and the
fight against stigma, leaders of 15 major field organizations
agreed at a Jan. 13 meeting in Washington, D.C. The meeting
was called to discuss both message development and collaboration
on a broader public-policy agenda, and was convened as the
result of informal talks among the leaders of groups like
the Legal Action Center (LAC), the American Society of Addiction
Medicine (ASAM), the Association for Addiction Professionals
(NAADAC), and Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA).
"We began to see that there was a need for dialogue about
who we are, where we are going, and if there are messages
and actions we can take jointly," recalled NAADAC Executive
Director Pat Ford-Roegner. The groundwork paid off quickly
during the January meeting, said LAC Director Paul Samuels.
"We had agreement within the first five minutes,"
he said. The consensus statement adopted by the group was
straightforward and designed to be noncontroversial, at least
within the field: "Alcohol and drug addiction is a disease
that can be prevented and treated. People in recovery from
this disease can and do lead productive lives, and should
not be discriminated against," the group stated. But
the conversation strayed further, ranging from budget issues
to concerns about the impact that President Bush's faith-based
initiative would have on addiction training and certification
standards. "Participants hope the consensus statement
will enable groups across the entire ideological spectrum
to work together, even if they continue to disagree on other
points," said Samuels.

Two working groups emerged from the
meeting: One, led by Samuels, will develop a public-policy
agenda; the other, led by by Ford-Roegner and lobbyist Carol
McDaid of Capitol Decisions, Inc., will craft messages to
support the consensus agenda. The group plans to hold future
meetings and aims to bring in other participants, both from
within and outside the addiction field. "My sense is
that we need to reach out very broadly from the beginning,"
said Samuels. "I think it would be very useful to get
law enforcement, the faith community, labor, and the world
at large involved." The research community, which has
been very successful in changing public attitudes about the
disease of addiction, also needs to be engaged, Samuels added.
A Mixed History of Collaboration - The Jan. 13 meeting was
hardly the first time the addiction field has tried to collaborate
on policy issues. Various ad-hoc coalitions have been formed
in the past around specific issues, and representatives from
a number of Washington, D.C. based groups have worked together
on appropriations issues for the past few years. However,
over time the field has gained an unwanted reputation on Capitol
Hill for a lack of cohesiveness and weak grassroots advocacy.
"Some new people have come into the field and said, 'Why
is this not happening?'" said Samuels. New ASAM Executive
Vice President Eileen McGrath and NAADAC's Ford-Roegner were
among those who brought an outsider's perspective to the policy
discussions. "Eileen, myself, and others have a real
can-do attitude, but we know [addiction] is a much tougher
issue," said Ford-Roegner, who previously worked on issues
such as AIDS and breast-cancer awareness.

The enthusiasm of new leaders like
McGrath and Ford-Roegner, combined with the knowledge and
experience of field veterans, is one reason why Samuels believes
the time is right for addiction-field groups to overcome their
differences and work for the common good. "The notion
of working together has been picking up steam," he said.
"It's a combination of the maturation of the field and
the growing organization of the recovery community. It's not
rocket science, but it could be a pretty important step forward
for the field." "This needs to lead to a groundswell
of people at the state and national level who want to see
changes," added Ford-Roegner. "I think community-based
advocacy is growing - through the Join Together Demand Treatment!
grantees, the CADCA grantees, Faces and Voices of Recovery
- and a lot of action in the AIDS community and breast-cancer
issues came out of that." Ron Hunsicker, president of
the National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers,
is hopeful that the field can present a united front on critical
issues, but cautioned against overreaching. "It seems
to me that it has to start being narrowly focused," said
Hunsicker, who didn't attend the January meeting but forwarded
comments to the group on behalf of NAATP. "We have to
decide on one or two things we're all interested in and stay
focused on that."

"One of the reasons these efforts
have lost momentum in the past is that some of us represent
treatment-delivery systems, and others represent advocacy
groups, and we need to understand that and talk about it,
or it won't work," he added. "I see no reason why
we all couldn't agree on calling for a Presidential Commission
on Addiction, for example, but if we get into spending issues
then we'll spend all of our time talking about our differences."
The meeting was attended by leaders of the American Association
for Treatment of Opioid Dependence, ASAM, Brown University/Physicians
Leadership on National Drug Policy, CADCA, the Employee Assistance
Professionals Association, Faces and Voices of Recovery (formerly
the Alliance Project), the Johnson Institute Foundation, Join
Together, the Legal Action Center, NAADAC, the National Association
of State Alcohol and Drug Abuse Directors, the National Latino
Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention, the Partnership
for Recovery, the State Associations of Addiction Services,
and Therapeutic Communities of America. In addition, NAATP,
the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, and
the National Children of Alcoholics Foundation expressed their
support and forwarded suggestions for the group to consider.
For more information, contact Paul Samuels at the Legal Action
Center: (212) 243-1313 or e-mail: PSAMUELS@lac.org.

From JoinTogether.org, by Bob Curley, 23
January 2003

Huge Meeting of World Economists
Discusses Globalization, IT

Seven thousand economists from around
the world examined the impact of globalization and information
technology, during a weekend gathering in Washington. Economists
from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia,
and Harvard universities say there is a direct relationship
between technological advance and gains in productivity, also
known as output per hour worked. Martin Feldstein, a likely
successor to Alan Greenspan at the U.S. central bank, said
the United States has done better than Europe in productivity
and job creation in the past decade because of greater receptivity
to innovation and a more flexible labor market. "Innovation
is often frightening to people who have to learn new systems,
particularly older workers for whom new computer technology
may never be user friendly enough. Innovation can also be
personally unpleasant for managers if it means firing workers
and forcing others to take early retirement," he explained.
"This business process innovation nonetheless occurred
in U.S. firms because the general environment encouraged and
supported change, while the individuals who drove change had
strong incentives for doing so," Mr. Feldstein said.
In the late 1990's the United States registered five consecutive
years of 40 percent growth in investment in computer technology.
Panelists said that investment accounted for almost all of
the U.S. productivity gains in recent years.

Mr. Feldstein said unlike earlier periods
of technological advance, recent changes are affecting middle-level
managers more than blue-collar workers. "These productivity
gains made possible by the new computer technologies have
been concentrated in white-collar jobs. While earlier generations
of technological change permitted automation and robots on
the production process, the IT [information technology] revolution
has brought productivity gains to management, sales, purchasing,
accounting, design and other non-production activities. And
that now is where most of the [new] jobs are, even in manufacturing
industry," he said. But the situation is quite different
in developing countries where labor is more plentiful and
cheaper. Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University said productivity
gains in developing countries are linked to education and
a capacity to accept new technology. "There have been
marked changes in technology leading to changes in the pace
of productivity. And even if the new economy [characterized
by IT and the Internet] has been hyped and has not meant the
end of the business cycle as some people thought a couple
years ago, it is quite clear that there have been changes
in technology and changes in productivity. The point is that
different countries are in different position to take advantage
of these changes," Mr. Stiglitz said. He said that while
Africa and Latin America lag behind in accommodating new technology,
China and South Korea are clear winners. The panelists concluded
that the years 1995 to 2000 represented a unique period of
particularly rapid technological advance. This, they said,
probably was a once only occurrence facilitated by the arrival
of the Internet, the global communications system made possible
by the marriage of computer and telecommunications technology.

From Voice of America, by Barry Wood, 6
January 2003

Donor Aid Tied to Good Governance

Lilongwe - Political and Economic analysts
have warned that unless the United Democratic Front (UDF)
proved to the donor community and civil society that government
was serious about improving on it's ills, the hope of normalising
relations between the development community and the state
will continue to remain an unattainable dream. The warning
comes amid calls from human rights and civil society advocates
urging the government to bring the financial hiccups to normal
by increasing or at least attracting donor funding inflows,
This, they said can only be done by apologising to the nation
and to our partners for the poor accountability, especially
Denmark who pulled out of Malawi in July last year. The intransigence
of the Malawi government to reform has led to other key donors
withholding funding. More than 2/3rds of political analysts
interviewed agreed that the UDF's desire to retain power at
all costs was another position of contention. They feared
that if passed, the third term bid for President Muluzi is
likely to inflict grave damage on the country's fragile economy
saying it will only mirror and highlight the governments'
continued abuse of parliament and democracy in particular.
Executive Director of Civil Liberties Committee (CILIC) Emmie
Chanika took a swipe at the government, quizzing if it has
addressed the shortfalls identified by the donor community.
'I am sure Denmark will wait until the third term issue is
resolved before reacting because they know the UDF will continue
breaching the principles of democracy,' said Chanika. She
advised politicians to avoid making what she described as
'obscene, un-intellectual vibes'. Constitutional lawyer and
law lecturer at Chancellor College (CHANCO) Fidelis Edge Kanyongolo
in an interview with The Chronicle said should the UDF force
the third term bill through, the donors will not be easily
convinced. 'The Bill will reflect badly on our commitment
to democracy and we should not expect to be assisted because
we will have betrayed the ideals of democracy,' said Kanyongolo,
adding, 'nobody can be cheated that people have been consulted
to allow such a major amendment of the constitution.'

Another political analyst based in
Lilongwe said: 'The UDF should change it's mode of running
the affairs of the country, righting the wrongs that have
been pointed out by those who assist Malawi financially. Otherwise
it will be an exercise akin to squeezing water from a stone
to convince them to resume assisting us. 'I personally feel
that when donors say the ruling party should exercise fiscal
discipline, stamp out corruption and uphold democratic principles
they are doing Malawi a favour rather than whipping her to
submission to their 'ulterior motives' as some politicians
have made us believe.' He pointed out that the donor community
is now focusing on the third term issue since, he said, it
was a 'litmus test'that will determine if the ruling party
has changed for the better on upholding democratic principles.
He said that should the third term bill be tabled and passed,
Malawi's already ravaged economy will undoubtedly be plunged
into further turmoil with donors pulling out as was the case
in the past when various key donors bemoaned the way the United
Democratic Front (UDF) led government was running the country.
'We are desperately in need of donor aid taking into consideration
the hunger situation currently being faced by many helpless
Malawians. We want to get out of the economic hardships strait
jacket,' further said another observer opting for anonymity.
He added that the defeat of the open term bill was not meant
to oust the incumbent President Bakili Muluzi from office
but to maintain a semblance of democracy. The donor community
has accused the ruling UDF of wholesale corruption and the
diverting funds to unintended projects, especially by those
in positions of public trust. Some instrumental donors like
Britain and Denmark have already made their stance clear on
the issue . Britain, who makes vast financial grants and other
technical assistance towards the safeguarding of Malawi's
democracy, last year withheld US$19 million intended for budgetary
support while the Danes took US$87 million earmarked for Malawi
back to their Central Bank in Copenhagen citing the numerous
ills of the ruling UDF administration. The Nordic country
contributed a staggering US$60million (K5.2 billion) into
both budgetary and development aid support every year. The
European Union (EU), currently whose presidency is headed
by the Denmark, also withheld US$13 million and is still demanding
a refund of US$6 million already disbursed because of irregularities
in the tendering process.

Finance Minister Friday Jumbe has admitted
that since Denmark cutoff her ties with the country, economic
hardships have been steadily worsening. He said that the government
was ready to negotiate with the Nordic country to ensure a
huge financial gap is bridged. Some Non-governmental Organisations
have demanded an explanation and an apology from the State
President before trying to mend the fences. President Muluzi
continues to remain 'mum' on the third term issue saying that
it was not yet the time to bring it up again. He said rather,
it was prudent for him and other UDF gurus to concentrate
on issues of paramount importance such as HIV/AIDS, poverty
reduction and hunger, among others. The president's silence
has seen the emergence of two factions within the party; the
pro-third-term and the anti-third term. The former, according
to analysts, have enjoyed economic gain from the party president
while the latter have fallen victim to the systematic purging
from within the UDF camp. The latest victims being Jaap Sonke,
a former cabinet minister who was stripped of his position
and Joe Manduwa, also a one-time minister who was, at the
time he declared his opposition to the third term the chairperson
of the Parliamentary Committee looking into the abuse of office
and fraud and corruption linked to the food security in the
country. Manduwa was removed from the committee after it was
felt he was getting too close to resolving the matter that
brought hunger and distress to the nations rural poor. It
was seen that he was willing to put the blame firmly on his
own party colleagues. Muluzi, at public rallies has since
practically declared their constituency seats vacant, further
throwing the issue of participatory choice by the electorate
in doubt. However, analysts argue that the odds are heavily
tipped on the incumbent president coming out in the open to
reveal his intention not to stand and to propose his choice
of successor within the next few months. Presidential, Parliamentary
and Council elections are expected to be held within the next
15 months. Political pundits indicate that Muluzi's delays
could reflect badly on his party and the successor with a
potential for a repeat of the Kenya scenario where the opposition
fielded a single presidential candidate to remove what was
perceive as a reluctant, oppressive and ineffective party
from government.

From AllAfrica.com, by Mallick Mnela, 7
January 2003

ZANU-PF Official Calls
for Transparency in Zimbabwe's Maize Distribution

A top ZANU-PF official has called for
greater transparency in the distribution of the government's
grain resources, echoing calls made by several NGOs and the
opposition who have accused the ruling party of manipulating
access to supplies. The call by Jabulani Sibanda, the ZANU-PF
regional chairman in the southern city of Bulawayo, came after
two clashes over the weekend between protestors and police
outside government-controlled Grain Marketing Board (GMB)
distribution depots. Thirty-four people were arrested following
violence at the depot in Bulawayo on Friday, reportedly between
"war veterans" and police. In a similar incident,
four policemen had to be treated in hospital on Sunday after
clashes between youths and police monitoring a food queue
in Chitungwiza, south of Harare. "We want a transparent
system and we want a local task force to distribute [food]
to local people as they know the people better. They will
know who received [supplies] yesterday," Sibanda told
IRIN. "There should be a more transparent system because
even if there is nothing to distribute, [without transparency]
people will feel something is being hidden." Sibanda
refused to elaborate on alleged problems with current distribution
methods, but the online Sunday News quoted him as saying:
"Maize is there but it is not reaching the intended consumers
but instead the maize is being used by 'big fish' to spin
money." He also reportedly accused the police of not
investigating allegations of illegal maize sales after being
supplied with addresses of offenders. However, the newspaper
also reported that the chairman of the provincial task force
alleged that Sibanda and his "war veterans and gullible
party supporters" were hampering the work of GMB officials,
and that he had allegedly dissolved the government task force
putting himself and "war veterans" in charge. Sibanda
denied the allegations.

The newspaper reported Nicholas Goche,
the minister of state for security, as saying that a call
at the recent ZANU-PF conference that war veterans be represented
on local provincial task forces had been misconstrued to mean
they should replace the existing task forces. Last year the
Danish organisation, Physicians for Human Rights, the Bishop
of the Catholic Church in Bulawayo, Pius Ncube, and the Zimbabwe
Human Rights NGO Association alleged in separate statements
that Zimbabwe's scarce maize supplies were being distributed
on party lines in some districts. They said that in some cases
residents had to produce proof of membership of the ruling
party to be elible to purchase the staple food. Denying the
allegations, press secretary in the Ministry of Information,
Steyn Berejena, told IRIN: "The food is distributed by
the government officials but people assume that civil servants
are party people, which is not the case. The problem is, we
have shortages. People are not branded, they don't have marks
... how do you tell which political party they support? "Some
of these areas are undersupplied and demand is greater than
supplies and when people go to the GMB they might not find
grain available," Berejena said. Last month the Famine
Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) questioned the government's
claim that it had imported 600,000 mt of grain, saying that
shortages on the ground did not reflect this. The World Food
Programme (WFP) reported on Monday that beef, chicken, bread,
flour, maize meal, milk, and sugar continued to be absent
from supermarket shelves and fuel shortages were ongoing.
In addition, soft drinks and cigarettes were now becoming
scarce. There have been shortages of cash reported as well,
with banks restricting amounts that can be withdrawn. WFP
said its implementing partners had distributed just under
20,000 mt of food aid during December in 32 districts. Close
to seven million Zimbabweans are in need of food assistance
as a result of drought and the government's controversial
land reform programme.

From Malawi Here, Africa, 06 January 2003

Local Government Ministry
Working To Attract Professionals

The Ministry of Local Government and
Rural Development is in the process of attracting skilled
personnel into the local government administration in order
to strengthen governance at the grassroots level. The Ministry
has realized that the major problem confronting local governance
in the country is the non-availability of technocrats, especially,
at the district and town council levels. The Sector Minister,
Mr. Baah-Wiredu, stated this in an interview at Agogo in the
Asante Akyem North District of Ashanti. According to him,
the Ministry has begun serious discussions with professionals
such as engineers, architects, lawyers, planning and budget
officers, among others to sensitise them to take up employment
with the local government sector.

From GhanaWeb, Ghana, 14 January 2003

People's Assembly Concept
Mark of Good Governance

Mr. Ernest Akubuor Debrah, Brong-Ahafo
Regional Minister said on Wednesday that the people's assembly
concept is a mark of good governance in the successful execution
of governmental policies for the orderly and accelerated development
of the country. Speaking at Goaso in the Asunafo district
of the region at a people's assembly, he noted that on assumption
of office, the Government, among others had five main objectives
of infrastructure development. These include the construction
of new roads and rehabilitation of old ones, provision of
electricity, inputs support and credit facilities, provision
of educational facilities and establishment of agro-based
industries. The Regional Minister explained that the achievement
of these and other objectives could only be possible when
good governance, which provides the enabling environment for
industrial growth and smooth economic take off, was entrenched
as part of the country's democratic system. He announced that
a second High Court, after Sunyani, had been opened at Wenchi,
and soon another would be opened at Goaso for the speedy administration
of justice in the region. Mr. Debrah further explained a number
of government policies, including the HIPC initiative, benefits
being derived from the Health Insurance Policy, and the possible
increase of fuel prices.

Dhaka - Most private citizens of Bangladesh
believe that improving governance is critical for reducing
poverty and are particularly concerned about law enforcement
and the legal and judicial system, according to the results
of a large-scale public opinion survey conducted in 2000-2001.
In its newly released report, Bangladesh, Improving Governance
for Reducing Poverty, the World Bank says that the results
of the survey "do not just confirm well-known ills; they
help establish priorities for reform." The report says
that improving governance in the country is necessary to attract
more investment-a fundamental requirement for achieving the
kind of economic growth needed to meet the country's poverty
reduction goals. "The data show that the breakdown of
law enforcement-especially corruption in the police and long
delays in the courts-is the top concern of both rank-and-file
citizens and entrepreneurs," says the report. "Even
though access to such social services as health care and education
is often inequitable, that pattern of discrimination against
the poorest is even more perceptible when the most vulnerable
Bangladeshis seek the help of the police or the protection
of courts." The report indicates that the survey responses
could help determine priorities for reform. Regarding police
reform, it suggests measures including reviewing and redressing
such areas as pay, allowances, job security, and benefits;
stopping politically motivated transfers of police officials;
taking action against officers found guilty of corruption
and other crimes; and instituting civilian oversight of police
services.

The report notes that government has
already embarked upon a program of legal and judicial reform,
a central element of which is the separation of the judiciary
from the executive. In addition, with the assistance of the
World Bank, a computerized case classification and record
management system is being introduced and modern case management
techniques instituted with a view to substantially reducing
the backlog of cases. Government is also developing a program
to promote legal literacy and raise public awareness. To further
improve the functioning of the system, the report suggests
that standards for processing cases should be published and
enforced and penalties for non-compliance introduced. Respondents
to the survey also complained of widespread corruption in
other areas and described having to pay bribes for such activities
as registering the purchase and sale of property, receiving
loans from financial institutions, obtaining clearances and
licenses to do business, and receiving publicly provided services
such as water and energy supply, health care, and education.
There was a strong feeling that poor people had less access
and more difficulties than wealthier people in all of these
areas. "Taken together, these faults erode the confidence
of citizens in their government and of outsiders in Bangladesh
as a promising place to risk their capital," according
to the report.

Among other measures, the report suggests
that civil servants and service providers should be held accountable
for the services they provide, independent regulatory entities
should be established, and public-private partnerships encouraged
to improve service delivery. It also says that currently government
agencies have limited institutional capacity and try to do
too much with too few resources, adversely affecting the quality
of service delivery. The views of civil servants are in stark
contrast to the opinions expressed by households and businesses.
According to survey results, while civil servants believe
that corruption is a problem, they feel that it is declining.
They nonetheless agree that a key reason for poor service
quality is the lack of accountability and distorted incentives
whereby civil servant's rewards and punishment are not connected
with the quality of service delivery. The survey, conducted
in 2000-2001, covered 3,000 households, 1,500 business enterprises,
and 1,500 civil servants. "In recent years, increasing
use is being made of client-surveys throughout the world to
motivate better public service delivery," according to
the report. "Countries as diverse as Botswana, Chile
and Singapore have put in place mechanisms that allow them
to get systematic feedback on a range of policies and issues
and use this information to provide feed-back to service providers
and assess performance across agencies. Regular client-surveys
should be encouraged and the information collected through
such interventions should be published regularly and disseminated
widely."

From World Bank Group, DC, 9 January 2003

Beijing Recovers 1.3bn
yuan in Anti-corruption Campaign

Over the past five years, local procuratorates
have recovered almost 1.3 billion yuan (about 157 million
US dollars) from corrupt officials who abused their power
for their own financial gain. Over the past five years, local
procuratorates have recovered almost 1.3 billion yuan (about
157 million US dollars) from corrupt officials who abused
their power for their own financial gain. Wang Shuangjin,
director of the anti-corruption bureau of the Beijing municipal
procuratorate, disclosed the information during a recent interview
with Xinhua. According to the official, in 2002, the city
set up a network aimed at dissuading officials from engaging
in corrupt activities. The network has played an important
role in detecting and interrupting crime through inter-departmental
coordination. In the first 11 months of 2002, local procurators
handled 62 major corruption cases involving one million yuan
or more (about 120,000 US dollars), 79 cases related to government
officials at the level of county magistrate, and 27 cases
related to municipal officials. Almost 170 million yuan (about
20.5 million US dollars) was recovered in these cases.

From People's Daily Online, China, 14 January
2003

Gov. del Rosario Affirms
Plan to be Transparent

Capitol, Tagum City - Underscoring
his uncompromising stand against corruption in government,
Governor Rodolfo del Rosario affirmed his administration is
conscientiously spending every single centavo of taxpayers'
money on worthwhile undertakings and that they are properly
accounted for. Del Rosario, who is also the concurrent president
of the influential League of Provinces of the Philippines
and the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines, made
the assurance to promote public awareness on the prompt payment
of taxes to raise essential revenues needed to fund important
government programs and projects amid the burgeoning national
budget deficit. "I assure my constituents that every
single centavo of taxes you pay will be properly accounted
for and will be utilized to intensify our various development
programs and projects," he declared during the taxpayers'
incentive promo 2002 raffle bonanza at the Capitol Ceremonial
Hall earlier this month. He vowed to continue his development
thrusts and programs utilizing the minimum basic needs approach
as centerpiece of his administration "to be able to provide
better lives to our people." Taxes return to the people
in the form of basic services and vital infrastructures like
farm-to-market roads, bridges, irrigation, post-harvest facilities
and other projects.

A brainchild of the governor, the MBN
approach to development has been implemented province-wide
since 2000 in an ambitious bid to totally uplift the quality
of life of the Dabaonons. Recognizing its mettle in promoting
pro-poor local governance, the Asian Institute of Management
named Davao del Norte as one of the top ten winners of the
prestigious Gawad Galing Pook Award 2002 for its MBN Program
as an outstanding local governance program. Also, under the
stewardship of Del Rosario, Davao del Norte was awarded as
the Most Outstanding LGU in Local Budget Administration (Provincial
Category) by the Department of Budget and Management and the
Philippine League of Budget Officers (PHILLBO), Inc. last
November in Malacañang. Provincial Treasurer Regina Ricafort
said the province launched the taxpayers' incentive promo
raffle bonanza last year to entice the public to promptly
pay their obligations to the government in order to improve
revenue collection. Celestina Inguito of Carcar, New Corella
won a colored TV for the first prize. Other major prizes include:
a gas range for the second prize bagged by Ramon Pama of Casing-ang,
Sto. Tomas, sewing machine as third prize won by Alexander
Guetare of Maniki, Kapalong; mountain bike as fourth prize
received by Feliciano Radical of San Isidro Carmen; and, a
2-burder gas stove as fifth prize won by Arthur Flores of
Tuganay, Carmen. (PGO-IDD).

From Mindanao Times, Philippines, 17 January
2003

CM Naidu Goes Hi-Tech
to Enforce Accountability

Hyderabad: Moving a step further in
administrative reforms, Andhra Pradesh government is contemplating
formulation of Performance Accountability Act to fix accountability
at various levels and put in place a mechanism of rewards
and punishments based on performance. Disclosing this while
addressing a state-level workshop on performance-based budgeting
in Hyderabad on Tuesday, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu
said that employees would be made personally responsible for
poor citizen service and performance evaluation would be done
using scientific methods and online tracking system. Outlining
his government's vision to use latest technologies to improve
accountability, Naidu said plans were afoot to deploy digital
cameras at all mandal headquarters to monitor developmental
works right from the stage of their grounding. "We can
monitor the quality and speed of the works and service standards
in a virtual reality medium," he said. As a prelude to
making public the draft budget for 2003-04, Naidu presided
over the workshop to review performance budgets of various
government departments. This is the second year in a row that
the TDP government is throwing open the draft budget for public
debate as part of efforts to make the budgetary exercise transparent.
Naidu will release the annual fiscal framework in Hyderabad
on Wednesday which would be followed by a series of open debates
at district level aimed at eliciting public views on budgetary
priorities.

From Indian Express, India, 21 January 2003

Local Government Must Take Lead
- Goodway

In a speech to the British Property
Federation annual conference at the Celtic Manor this morning
(Monday, January 27), Cardiff Council Leader, Councillor Russell
Goodway has argued strongly for more emphasis to be placed
on local government's community leadership role and for more
local powers to allow public-private partnerships to underpin
local regeneration. Citing the Cardiff experience, Councillor
Goodway, who is described in publicity for the event as 'the
inspiration behind the transformation of Cardiff', said that
local government's important role in the public-private partnership
must be recognised for cities to harness their full economic
and creative potential. "Cardiff's agenda and clear vision
for change can be traced back to the development of the Cardiff
2020 strategy defined by the former South Glamorgan County
Council just over ten years ago," he said. "That
vision helped galvanise opinion in the city behind an agenda
that would take Cardiff into the 21st century - an agenda
that sought to provide the necessary infrastructure for change.
And, more importantly, it was an agenda about partnership
working and creating confidence in the city so that the Council
could draw on resources and expertise, other than its own,
to further the regeneration of Cardiff. "In Cardiff,
we have had to recognise that cities are also becoming international
players - sometimes competing with each other, sometimes co-operating,
to attract international investment. We have worked closely
with the Chamber of Commerce to develop 'one voice' for business
and we have had to adopt a robust commitment to public-private
collaboration.

"We now need to line up with
other progressive European cities to develop a modern, pro-cities
manifesto that can draw-in public and private investment to
benefit the people who depend on cities as their homes and
places of work. "That means more emphasis on local government's
community leadership role and more local powers to allow public-private
partnerships to underpin regeneration. "What I want to
see is a clearer distinction made between, on the one hand,
the role of the private sector in harnessing the creative
potential of the market. And, on the other, the role of government
in putting in place the infrastructure that will enable them
to do that in the most effective way possible. Councillor
Goodway also expressed concern at lack of local authority
control over business rates. In response to questioning from
leading academic urban economist and local government expert
Tony Travers, the Council Leader argued strongly for the return
of all business rates to local control. "At this point
nearly forty percent of Cardiff's business rates go to support
the rest of Wales for projects and development over which
Cardiff has no control," he said. "The fact is that
Cardiff has the power and potential to drive the Welsh regional
economy forward. And we should receive the appropriate resources
from the Welsh Assembly Government if we are to achieve this.
Because at the end of the day, if Cardiff wins, Wales wins."

From News Wales, UK, 28 January 2003

Iraqi Professionals Discuss the
Future of Local Government and Oil

The US said: two working groups, one
dealing with local government, the other with the oil and
gas industry, of the Future of Iraq Project met for the first
time in Washington in late December under the auspices of
the State Department. The local government working group,
consisting of 15 Iraqi-born academics, businessmen and religious
leaders, met December 18-19 for discussions on developing
effective, accountable local government once Saddam Hussein's
one-party structure collapses. The oil and gas working group
brought together Iraqi-born oil and gas experts for discussions
December 20-21 on managing the Iraqi energy sector in the
post-Saddam era. Speaking to the Washington File December
23, Talib Al-Hamdani, political scientist, engineer and participant
in the local government working group, explained how Iraq's
Ba'athist regime began in the 1970's to usurp power from all
levels of government. "What you have now is total central
control from the top," he said, with most governors and
mayors appointed by the Interior Ministry in Baghdad. "Local
government figures are organs of the regime, drawn from the
higher ranks of the Ba'ath Party, and lack any real power,"
Hamdani said. If Iraq is to transition to a more representative
form of government, Hamdani said it is important to begin
immediately strengthening the basic elements of day-to-day
governance and ensuring officials are accountable to the local
population. The working group agreed on the importance of
re-introducing elected city councils throughout the country.
"I really see local elections happening before elections
to the major national bodies. Elections, particularly in the
smaller cities, would be fairly easy to do. And it would give
people valuable training, give life to civic society and encourage
political debate," Hamdani explained. Hamdani said specific
ideas on the role of local councils were being shared among
the working group members. He predicted that the councils
would have a voice in monitoring the effectiveness and integrity
of state officials. "At first, there may still be many
administrators appointed by a transitional authority, but
from the very beginning we can make them also accountable
to local city council," he said. "It would be the
elected city council that would put demands on the bureaucracy
and the technocrats and officials." "We need to
lessen the degree of corruption.

There is wide corruption, so if you
make any new appointee accountable to the local people, that
will reduce corruption a lot," he said. In addition to
local councils, Hamdani said other aspects of civic life need
to be revived. "When the Ba'athist government came, they
eliminated civic society. A dictator needs only the masses
and him, nothing in between. So we need to return to trade
unions, professional guilds that will elect their representatives
and they will watch the government. The other side is the
free press. We need to localize the press, so that each city
or province will have its press to monitor the government,"
Hamdani said. The discussions also dealt with issues such
as ensuring local government has revenue, the independence
to manage its resources, and the means to account for its
monies before local residents. An Iraqi religious figure,
Abdulmajid Al-Khoei, offered his view on how to preserve the
special status of religious seminaries, like those in Najaf,
without imposing state management on religious institutions.
Al-Khoei is son of a leading ayatollah who died in 1992 from
persecution by the Ba'athist regime and secretary general
of the Al-Khoei Foundation, which supports a Shia Muslim community
in North London with schools and a mosque. The Al-Khoei Foundation
carries on the late ayatollah's tradition of promoting separation
of mosque and state while defending Shia rights and culture
in Iraq. Iraq contains many diverse religious traditions within
its borders. As free Iraqis discuss the possible institutional
relationships between religion and state, Hamdani noted that
local clerics are one of several social forces affecting the
local community. "A governor in Basra is not dealing
in foreign affairs or national security. A governor needs
to deal with the tribes, the businessmen and with the religious
community there. So we need to take their opinions into consideration
because that is the work of local government," Hamdani
said. Speaking to the Middle East Institute in Washington
December 20, Abdulmajid Al-Khoei noted that developing a spirit
of democracy would take years. "After all Saddam did
to the people, democracy will take time.

It's not something you can switch on
and off like a light." In the transition to greater democratic
governance, he believed religious authorities and tribal authorities
would be influential at the grassroots level. Hamdani felt
this was particularly true in rural areas. The degree of success
in developing local government and civic bodies that allow
people to negotiate their needs and differences will be a
good indicator of the kind of nation which will emerge from
30 years of dictatorship, Hamdani said. He underscored the
value of beginning the process at the town and village level.
"From here, we could take the next step for people to
choose their representative to a central government or to
write a new constitution," he said. Working Group Discusses
the Oil Sector - The day after the conclusion of the local
government meeting, Iraqi-born experts of the oil and gas
working group began two days of discussions on the future
of that industry. According to a press statement released
at the conclusion of their discussions, a key objective of
the group was to identify short and medium term priorities
for the Iraqi oil and gas sector after a change of government
in Baghdad and to determine the necessary components for a
restructuring of the industry. "The aspiration of the
group is a rehabilitated, globally connected oil and gas sector,"
it said. "Oil will remain the primary source of revenue
and will play a pivotal role in the country's economic reconstruction.
The group recognized the need to establish a favorable investment
climate and attract international and inward capital in the
reconstruction and growth of the industry. It saw the importance
of introducing modern technology, know-how and management
skills. As a practical matter the group discussed the priority
first steps in re-establishing historic capacity," the
statement concluded. The two working groups will reconvene
in early 2003. They are among the sixteen groups of Iraqi-born
experts that will be meeting regularly to examine issues of
critical importance to the Iraqi people. Their work is facilitated
by the Department of State through the "Future of Iraq
Project."

From Arabic News, 2 December 2003

People Want Governance

Disillusionment with government is
a world-wide reality - A recent international survey placed
Kenyans at the top of the poll in terms of their optimism
for the future. The success of the opposition alliance in
smashing the ruling party's 39-year grip on power has rekindled
Kenya's hope for the future - hope for better governance.
Kenya's political turnaround is significant for democracy
and for governance. It shows that despite four decades of
political baasskap and corruption, hope of deliverance remained
in the minds of the majority of Kenyans. It also indicates
that dictators like Daniel arap Moi can be removed from power
and that they are not ordained to rule indefinitely. In 1991,
Zambians celebrated when Frederick Chiluba replaced Kenneth
Kaunda as president after 27 years. Ten years of Chiluba,
however, failed to reverse the terminal decline that Kaunda
had inflicted on Zambia. Will Mwai Kibaki, who once served
as Arap Moi's vice-president, succeed in reviving Kenya's
slumped economy and in transforming its corrupt civil service?
Closer to home, Zimbabwe's tragic situation cries out for
governance and deliverance from tyranny. Although free elections
in Zimbabwe would see the opposition MDC sweep to power, the
damage caused by Mugabe's systematic rape of the country has
so retarded it that tangible economic upliftment will take
years. That is the shocking legacy of Mugabe's abuse of power.
Although he died in 1986, Mozambique is still paying the price
of Samora Machel's ruinous rule. While it now posts record
economic growth rates, it is only progress to recover what
once was rather than growth beyond that level. Although Kenyans
are jubilant now, only time will tell whether they have exchanged
one oppressive government for another. The history of post-colonial
Africa in this regard is not encouraging.

As historian Basil Davidson stated
in his book, The Black Man's Burden: Africa and the curse
of the nation-state (1992): "The state was not liberating
and protective of its citizens; on the contrary, its gross
effect was constricting and exploitative " Disillusionment
with governments is not peculiar to Africa. It's a worldwide
reality. Only 40% of Americans bothered to vote in the 2002
mid-term elections. Germans are anything but enamoured with
the Schršder government, which seems to know only how to raise
taxes while the economy stagnates and 10% of Germans are unemployed.
In Venezuela and Argentina, citizens seething with anger against
their governments have taken to the streets in protest. Their
plight is universal as governments serve themselves. It's
become the purpose of their existence. From their arrogance
and contempt for criticism, it is obvious that they see electorates
only as a means to the gravy train as they pay lip service
to good governance. With the emergence of sophisticated power
blocs such as the EU, the whole edifice of government has
become more powerful, self-serving and isolated from those
it claims to represent. Ask UK residents how they see their
relationship with the European Parliament in Strasbourg. It's
simply another tax at the price of another slice of national
sovereignty. Governments have become closed, cloned clubs.
They no longer function as Abraham Lincoln envisaged - being
of the people, for the people and by the people. Locally,
the SADC is a case in point. It pays lip service to criteria
like good governance, democracy and independent judiciaries,
while it shelters rogues like Mugabe. Indeed, he enjoys protection
and even favour from the SADC and the Non-Aligned Movement,
while he terrorises and starves Zimbabweans.

At the ANC's national conference in
Stellenbosch last month, Mugabe's brutal regime was actually
praised for being "progressive", which is newspeak
for advancement of collectivist baasskap. Consistent with
this mockery of the ideal of good governance is Mbeki's decision
this week to support Libya's election to the chair of the
UN Commission on Human Rights, notwithstanding the Gaddaffi
regime's involvement in international terrorism and its denial
of human rights in Libya itself. How long has the euphoria
of the 1994 election lasted in South Africa? The same survey
that placed Kenyans on a high of optimism found Thabo Mbeki's
ratings at an all-time low. By-election results reflect a
huge decline in voter turn-out for the ruling party. It's
probably one of the reasons it was anxious to avoid the snap
election the IFP/DA recently threatened to call in KZN. The
same mistake of not "liberating its citizens" is
being made in the new South Africa as elsewhere. Worldwide,
what people want is good governance. Instead, they are being
dished out more government, more bureaucracy, more centralisation,
more control, less freedom - and all for more money. Ninety
percent of the taxes this government collects are spent on
maintaining itself. Exacerbating the situation is the nanny-state
socialism to which the ANC has always been partial. Doing
nothing, as Edmund Burke warned over 200 years ago, is not
an option because it facilitates the process of enslavement,
in this case to big government. The solution lies, as Thomas
Jefferson once said, in less government and in the devolution
of power into the hands of the electors. Then, as is the case
in the Swiss canton system, governance, rather than government,
prevails. (Duncan du Bois is a DA Durban Metro ward councillor.
He writes in his personal capacity).

Davos - The World Economic Forum is
launching a high-level Initiative to monitor progress in the
global effort to implement the ambitious social, economic
and environmental goals set forth in the United Nations Millennium
Declaration and other documents. This endeavour, known as
the Global Governance Initiative, will publish an annual report
assessing efforts by and cooperation among governments, civil
society, the private sector and intergovernmental organizations
to meet targets widely agreed to by 189 governments. Among
the goals are pledges to: Halve the number of people living
in poverty by 2015; Ensure universal primary education by
2015; Halt and reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS and other major
diseases by 2015; Fulfil commitments to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions and implement conventions related to the conservation
of biodiversity; Halve the number of people suffering from
hunger by 2015; Uphold the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights and other agreements related to the rights of women
and migrants, and ensure media freedom and the public's right
to access to information; Ensure the implementation of arms
control and disarmament treaties, and strengthen the role
of the United Nations in maintaining peace and security.

The report will include an overall
numerical score of progress in effort and cooperation during
the preceding year in each of the above areas. It will also
contain a discussion of the significant problems governments,
civil society, the private sector and intergovernmental organizations
face, and notable examples of progress during the previous
year. The Initiative will include seven international groups
of experts, each dedicated to evaluating the level of effort
and cooperation among key actors in one of the above areas.
The Steering Committee of the Global Governance Initiative
will convene for the first time during the Annual Meeting
2003. The first report will be released in the name of the
Steering Committee at the World Economic Forum's next Annual
Meeting in January 2004. The Global Governance Initiative
is intended to be an independent watchdog for the follow-up
to the Millennium Declaration. The project will draw on expertise
around the world to remind the international community of
its commitments and constructively advocate greater partnership
by all stakeholders. By spotlighting specific examples of
successful programmes and partnerships, the Global Governance
Initiative will spread awareness of the models that should
be emulated - or avoided.

By publicizing ideas about what governments,
intergovernmental organizations, businesses and civil society
organizations can do to meet specific goals laid out in the
Millennium Declaration and other documents, it will help bring
about the realization of those goals. Further information
on the Global Governance Initiative can be obtained by contacting
Ann Florini, Project Director of the Global Governance Initiative
and Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution at +1 202 797
6087 or Richard Samans, Director for Global Issues and Associate
Member of the Managing Board of the World Economic Forum at
+41 (0)22 869 1414. A partial list of participants is attached.
The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization
committed to improving the state of the world. The Forum provides
a collaborative framework for the world's leaders to address
global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members
in global citizenship. Incorporated as a foundation, and based
in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial
and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or
national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status
with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 28 January 2003

Global Corruption Report:
Journalists are Key to Fighting Corruption

In short: The 2003 annual report on
global corruption underlines the media's role in the fight
against corruption, calls for better access to government-held
information and states that companies are somewhat less likely
to bribe now than before. Brief news:Transparency International,
a globally known non-governmental organisation, released its
second annual report on the state of corruption around the
world, containing 16 regional reports. The "Global Corruption
Report 2003": -·highlights the role of the media in the
fight against corruption; -·underlines the importance of access
to government-held information; -·calls on regulators to require
companies to declare taxes and royalties paid to the governments
where they operate; -·reveals that companies from leading
industrial countries are seen as slightly less likely to bribe
than before. The report takes note of the new British law
that renders illegal not only the bribery of foreign government
officials in line with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention, but
also the so-called facilitation payments that are small payments
aiming to make access easier to routine government services.
The German parliament's upper house has held up twice a measure
presented by the federal government in April 2002, on the
creation of a Register of Unreliable Companies that would
list companies caught paying bribes or otherwise engaging
in corrupt activity. Italy passed a new law in late 2001 that
severely impedes the work of investigative judges. As regards
the countries that are candidates for EU membership, Hungary
introduced mandatory asset statements for all public sector
employees and adopted a law on corporate criminal liability
in 2001. The Czech Republic and Slovakia adopted civil service
laws that made property disclosures compulsory for civil servants,
in March 2002. In addition, these two countries also adopted
new laws on independent intra-governmental audit units in
2001. Accusations of corruption emerged over the privatisation
of the Lithuanian oil company and Polish ambulance service
employees who received payments for information about the
death of patients.

From Euractiv, Belgium, 30 January 2003

Ministers, Senior Civil Servants
to Lose Posts

Nairobi - All Presidential appointees
of the Kanu regime are expected to hand in their resignations
to allow President Mwai Kibaki make fresh appointments, a
source at the Office of the President said yesterday. According
to the source, the first people to lose their positions were
ministers and assistant ministers of the former ruling party.
"They lost their positions immediately the Electoral
Commission of Kenya announced that the National Rainbow Coalition
(Narc) had won the elections," the source added. Those
expected to hand in their resignations include all parastatal
heads, Permanent Secretaries and all constitutional office
holders. Accordingly among those expected to hand in their
resignations are Chief Justice Bernard Chunga, Attorney-General
Amos Wako and Commissioner of Police Philemon Abong'o. By
yesterday, all the ministers and their assistants had cleared
their personal effects from their offices awaiting the appointment
of new ministers. But the Attorney-General was reported to
be busy in his office yesterday morning discharging his duties
as the legal advisor to the Government. Efforts to talk to
him were not successful. Parastatal chiefs who still have
contracts with the Government are also not spared. According
to the Office of the President, those whose contracts are
still valid may have them terminated. "There is a termination
clause in their contracts," the source added.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, by David Okwembah,
1 January 2003

New Head Of Civil Service
Appointed

Dr. Alex Glover, a Chief Director of
the Ministry of Manpower, Development and Employment has been
appointed as the new Head of Civil Service. The appointment
was made by President Kufuor in consultation with the Public
Services Commission. A statement signed by the Presidency
said Dr Glover Quartey holds a B.A. (Hons) degree in French
Studies from the University of Ghana, Legon and a Diploma
in Public Administration from the Institute of International
Public Administration in Paris, France. He also holds a Masters
Degree in Public Administration from the University de Droit,
d'Economie et de Sciences Sociales de Paris and a Doctorate
in Public Management from University of Paris, Val de Mame
(PARISXII).

From GhanaWeb, Ghana, 2 December 2003

Anti-Corruption, Public
Service Bills Top of Parliament's Agenda, Says Kibaki

Nairobi - Two Bills which will clear
the way for the resumption of donor aid will be brought before
Parliament when it resumes, President Kibaki announced yesterday.
Mr. Kibaki said the Government had already held consultations
with international lenders who had shown a willingness to
resume the suspended donor aid. "We have already started
communicating with those countries who have in the past assisted
Kenya and they have expressed willingness to resume assistance,"
the President said at State House, Nairobi, where he announced
his new government. The Anti-Corruption and Economic Crimes
Bill and the Public Service (code of Conduct and Ethics) Bills
would be revived. The Kenya Anti-Corruption Authority formed
in 1999 and chaired by Justice Aaron Ringera was annulled
by the court after it was declared unconstitutional. It was
replaced by the Anti-Corruption Police unit which is headed
by Mr. Swaleh Slim. The donor community had insisted that
the two bills be passed by Parliament and implemented by the
government as a condition for resumption of aid. Said Mr.
Kibaki: "The Bills will give powers to the Anti-Corruption
Authority to prosecute those who have stolen public funds."
He explained that the two Bills would be brought to Parliament
and dealt with as a priority adding that was why he had convened
Parliament earlier than usual. Parliament will convene on
Thursday for the formalities of swearing in and electing the
Speaker and the deputy. It would then break briefly before
reconvening for business. The President was emphatic that
members of the new government will be required to declare
their wealth. These, he said, would include ministers, their
assistants and senior civil servants.

However, he did not specify when this
would be done. Mr. Kibaki stressed that the government was
fully committed on its pledge to fight corruption and would
not relent on the war against the vice. Mr. Kibaki also announced
that government would embark on revitalising the pararatasls
which he described as "a terrible phenomenon". None
profit making ones, he said, will either be merged, sold,
or abolished. He regretted that the parastatals had degenerated
over the years into a liability to the tax-payer. "Once
upon a time all of them such as Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya
Posts and Telecommunications and the Kenya Power and Lighting
Company used to make good money but now they have reached
a point where they cannot even pay their own debts,"
he said. "Thoughts have been going on in my mind and
we shall also share this with the ministers whether to abolish,
reduce or sell them to the private sector," he added.
Responding to questions from the battery of journalists at
the press conference, Mr. Kibaki said his government would
maintain the relationship with the other East African countries.
He said the country would move to ensure that the common market
for Eastern Africa was strengthened. A department would immediately
be created in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to implement
Comesa agreements. Mr. Kibaki also said his government was
ready to assist international tribunals pursuing those implicated
in war crimes. He was responding to a question over what the
government was doing in view of allegations that a most wanted
Rwanda genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga was being given sanctuary
by powerful people in the country. He said that the issue
would be pursued as per the law.

The Head of State emerged from State
House to address a battery of journalists that had waited
more than an hour at 2.35pm. The press conference which was
covered live by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation was held
at the lawns of State House. A jovial Mr. Kibaki was wheeled
to the lawns as he exchanged pleasantries with the journalists
before announcing his government. Contrary to tradition, the
President was unaccompanied during the more than half an hour
press briefing. Soon after the function, Mr. Kibaki caused
laughter when he apologised to the journalists for not offering
them tea but promised that the omission would not be repeated.
Earlier, there was congestion at the gates as security officers
sought clearance for journalists going to the function. This
caused a huge traffic jam along the road leading to Gate D.
The new State House Controller and Private Secretary to the
President, former MP Matere Keriri mingled freely with journalists
at the lawn and later responded to questions. Mr. Keriri told
the press that the government would be very strict on extravagance
in public spending. He said: "We have already started
talking with the Auditor-General and the Central Bank and
have told them that Mr. Kibaki's government will not allow
careless expenditure and misuse of government resources in
purchases done for fraudulent reasons." The officials
he said, had been directed to stop payment for purchases that
may have been done between now and the time Parliament was
dissolved.

From AllAfrica.com, by Njeri Rugene and
Mugo Njeru, 03 January 2003

Towards Changing the
Public Sector

Accra - Government says it is committed
to changing the perception that the public sector is not interested
in making the private sector a pivotal element in effecting
growth of Ghana's economy. Alhaji Mohammed Nuridine Jawula,
Head of Administration, Ministry of Finance told the Ghana
News Agency (GNA) Business Desk in an interview that a number
of initiatives have been taken to ensure that the private
sector is seen as a system without which the economy cannot
grow. Alhaji Jawula said this at the presentation of certificates
to 15 officials of the ministry who had gone through a computer
training programme aimed at equipping them to cope with systems
to help run the Public Financial Management Reform Programme
(PUFMARP) among other things. He said the Ministry of Finance
is committed to making its staff alive to meeting the needs
of the private sector, and thus to deal with them accordingly.
He said it was not true that the public sector deliberately
stalls the private sector, adding that, "most of our
payments and contract for jobs are to the private sector;
and activities are done with the private sector even though
there are some state bodies that could have been asked to
undertake them." Alhaji Jawula was pleased that public
sector officials are ready to be trained to meet the increasing
demands of developing Ghana's economy. The PUFMARP is a government
programme to improve financial management in the country.
It is to establish a computerised and integrated Unix-based
system with a central database accessed through a Local Area
Network and a Wide Area Network. It operates a system that
will be initially piloted in a total of the 67 sites involving
eight ministries in Accra including the office of the President
and regional ministers, 10 regions and two districts. This
will be expanded later to cover all the remaining Ministries,
Departments and Agencies. Mr. George Afriyie Gyamfi, IT Team
Leader at the PUFMARP Secretariat in Accra said the office
is happy to be able to be part of a changing process aimed
at giving a new impetus to the public sector and help meet
the dynamic needs of the Ghanaian economy.

From AllAfrica.com, 8 January 2003

Labour Minister Dismissed

Abidjan - President Kumba Yala on Monday
dismissed Guinea-Bissau's Minister for Public Administration
and Labour, Filomena Mascarenhas Tipote, but gave no reason
for his move, news organisations reported. She has been replaced
by Yala's political advisor, Tibna Sambe Na Wana, the Portuguese
news agency LUSA said. Tipote had been foreign minister in
the previous cabinet, which the president dissolved in mid-November
2002, along with parliament, accusing them of corruption and
subversion respectively. Yala came to power in January 2000.
Since then, the country has been wracked by crises, including
a rebellion by members of the former military junta in November
2000, a coup attempt in December 2001 and the dismissal of
several ministers in 2002.

From AllAfrica.com, 8 January 2003

PDP Guber Aspirant
to Restructure Kogi Civil Service

Lokoja - The Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) flagbearer in Kogi State, Alh. Ibrahim Idris, has assured
civil servants in the state that his administration would
reverse the ugly situation on ground in the state where people
are made to pay heavy taxes, levies from their salaries and
wages. He stated this in a phone conversation with Daily Trust
in Lokoja on Tuesday. Alh. Ibrahim, popularly known as Ibro,
said "the whole thing looks very horrifying, how can
you over-deduct peoples' means of livelihood without commensurate
programmes to cushion the effect of their suffering? The PDP
governorship candidate promised that the workers would enjoy
their promotion with cash backing in the state. Alh. Ibrahim
Idris revealed that when workers are not paid their entitlements
such as annual leave bonuses, incremental rates, "then
how do you expect the best from them in terms of loyalty and
dedication to the service of the state. "Already we have
set up a committee to look into all those problem areas with
our workers and as soon as the report is ready, we are going
to study it and come out with a blueprint that will stand
the test of time, we intend placing them on special scale
a little higher-than any other state in the North Central
Zone," he said. He similarly appealed to the retirees
in the state that their own case would receive his attention
as soon as he assume leadership in the state. He said all
those retired without benefit from the state service will
have their case redressed.

The governorship candidate said he
was going to run a transparent government. According to him,
the state cannot afford to allow its capital flight to be
highjacked by foreign contractors. Rather his administration
would engage indigenes who have the know-how so that money
can circulate among the people. Speaking on youth development,
Ibrahim said a train-the-trainer programme would be evolved
for the youths, while funds will be made available to those
who intend to stand on their own. The governorship hopeful
told our correspondent that situation where people are made
to hate themselves on the basis of ethnic differences will
become a thing of the past. "We would run a government
based on everybody's ability and knowledge as all stakeholders
would be adequately represented," he added. On infrastructure,
he said his administration would combine development of the
economic sector with human development, adding, "my friend
when you give people edifices, all over the place and neglect
as the necessities of life, it all amount to nonsense."
Speaking on his chances against the incumbent Prince Abubakar
Audu at the polls, Ibrahim said "my antecedents have
brought me to this level where I emerged among other 18 aspirants.
So people who know about the struggle for creation of Kogi
State know my role and as such they will give us their supports."
On rural development, Ibrahim said "as a rural man I
know where the shoes pinches, I will bring a revolution to
the rural areas that in less than six months people won't
believe what we would put in place for them. I assure you
that our people are for a good time as long as we are in office.

From AllAfrica.com, by Mamman Alhpena, 9
January 2003

Government Committed
to Changing the Public Sector

Government says it is committed to
changing the perception that the public sector is not interested
in making the private sector a pivotal element in effecting
growth of Ghana's economy. Alhaji Mohammed Nuridine Jawula,
Head of Administration, Ministry of Finance told the Ghana
News Agency (GNA) Business Desk in an interview that a number
of initiatives have been taken to ensure that the private
sector is seen as a system without which the economy cannot
grow. Alhaji Jawula said this at the presentation of certificates
to 15 officials of the ministry who had gone through a computer
training programme aimed at equipping them to cope with systems
to help run the Public Financial Management Reform Programme
(PUFMARP) among other things. He said the Ministry of Finance
is committed to making its staff alive to meeting the needs
of the private sector, and thus to deal with them accordingly.
He said it was not true that the public sector deliberately
stalls the private sector, adding that, "most of our
payments and contract for jobs are to the private sector;
and activities are done with the private sector even though
there are some state bodies that could have been asked to
undertake them." Alhaji Jawula was pleased that public
sector officials are ready to be trained to meet the increasing
demands of developing Ghana's economy. The PUFMARP is a government
programme to improve financial management in the country.
It is to establish a computerised and integrated Unix-based
system with a central database accessed through a Local Area
Network and a Wide Area Network. It operates a system that
will be initially piloted in a total of the 67 sites involving
eight ministries in Accra including the office of the President
and regional ministers, 10 regions and two districts. This
will be expanded later to cover all the remaining Ministries,
Departments and Agencies. George Afriyie Gyamfi, IT Team Leader
at the PUFMARP Secretariat in Accra said the office is happy
to be able to be part of a changing process aimed at giving
a new impetus to the public sector and help meet the dynamic
needs of the Ghanaian economy.

From GhanaWeb, 9 January 2003

Public Service Accountability
Monitor Says Allpay Agreement Should Be Published

Grahamstown - The Rhodes-based government
watchdog, the Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM)
says the East Cape Department of Social Development should
publish the three-year Service Level Agreement it signed with
AllPay last year. In a statement issued yesterday PSAM researcher
Vuyo Tetyana said this would serve to inform beneficiaries
of the quality of service AllPay should be providing. "This
agreement should include an indication of whether AllPay is
obliged to provide toilets, shelters and access to drinking
water to those queuing to obtain their grants." "These
provisions are included in the Service Level Agreement entered
into between AllPay and the Gauteng Provincial Government."
He said the department outsourced the payment of social grants
in the province to AllPay and Cash Paymaster Services at a
cost of R180 million paid out of tax-payer's money. "Since
then, there have been numerous reports in the media of gross
shortcomings in AllPay's operations. Reports have ranged from
poor customer service, inadequate communication of payment
dates to inadequate staff training." "Despite this
outsourcing arrangement, the head of the Social Development
Department remains responsible for ensuring the effective
delivery of welfare grants by AllPay". He said the PSAM
welcomes the new Social Development MEC, Neo Moerane's, recent
intervention in the AllPay saga and her threat to cancel the
company's contract unless corrective action is taken. However,
MEC Moerane should clarify the exact standards of service
delivery that she now expects AllPay to meet. "The PSAM
invites those members of the Eastern Cape public who have
been adversely affected by AllPay's inability to administer
grant payments to register their complaints to the Department
of Social Development via the MyRights website http://www.myrights.org.za."
"This will serve to keep the department informed of problems
being experienced and will enable PSAM and other NGOs to monitor
these problems," he said.

From AllAfrica.com, by Cecile Greyling,
10 January 2003

Encouraging Information
Technology in Civil Service

Abuja - The importance of Information
and Communications Technology, ICT, in modern management cannot
be over-emphasized, and the Civil Service is no exception.
The level of computer literacy in our public service is rather
low, and what is all the more worrisome is that we seem not
to be putting enough effort at ensuring at least some degree
of computer appreciation in the entire civil service structure.
The effort started at the top. Directors were sent on a two-week
intensive course that included, among others, two hours of
computer lesson each day. This was later extended to the level
of Deputy Directors, and then Assistant Directors. Good as
the said course may be, my observation in the offices of those
who have gone for the course is not encouraging. Most of those
who went for the course never had access to computers after
the course. Those who did never bothered to touch the "monster",
as the computers in their offices simply gathered dust. To
make matters worse, no effort was made by those who have computers
to allow their subordinates who are interested to have access
to the machine, even if they are not interested in using the
computers. The mass training program was limited to officers
on Grade Levels 15 and above; it was never extended to officers
on the lower rungs of the ladder that equally need the knowledge.
Besides, a two-week training is not enough to make a neophyte
computer literate. Training on a computer should be a continuous
exercise, hence is best handled in-house where the trainees
will have unrestricted access to computers. It will therefore
be more appropriate if every ministry and extra-ministerial
department establishes a computer- training center where staff
will be trained on a continuous basis. Those who benefit financially
from sending officers to private external computer centers
for training are sure to oppose this view, as it amounts to
blocking their "bread and butter". The proposed
in-house center needs not be elaborate, neither does it have
to be under any particular department. There can even be a
center in each department, with computer literate officers
(viz engineers and I.T. graduates) deployed to man the mini
training centers, either from the ministry's existing computer-literate
staff, or from a pool in the office of the Head of the Civil
Service of the Federation. One way to ensure that civil servants
take computer knowledge seriously is to make sure that their
promotion depends on computer literacy.

From AllAfrica.com, by F. Johnson, 15 January
2003

Mass Retrenchment Looms
in Federal Civil Service

As FG insists on implementing 60 per
cent recurrent budget - A mass retrenchment in the public
service now looms as the Federal Government hinted on Thursday
that the exercise was inevitable in the face of shortage of
funds. Dropping this hint while defending the Ministry of
Finance's year-2003 budget proposal, the Permanent Secretary,
Mrs. I. A. Iremiren, said the exercise had also become inevitable
because the government was set to implement 60 per cent of
last year's recurrent budget. defence of the Ministry of Finance
before the House Committee on Budget, the Permanent Secretary,
Mrs. I. A. Iremiren. Iremiren said if the over 213,400 workforce
was not downsized, a time would come when 90 per cent of recurrent
proposal, would be expended on salaries alone. But when asked
why the ministry would not exceed the ceiling, Iremiren who
its blamed it on lack of funds said she was not in a position
to change the decision that had already been taken at the
Federal Executive Council meeting. She, however, explained
that downsizing of the workforce of the civil service would
definitely solved the problem of lack of fund, but noted that
it would result in large-scale unemployment. According to
her, "there is need to restructure the workforce in the
public service otherwise time would come when 90 per cent
of the recurrent would be used to pay salaries." Speaking
in the same vein, the Director-General of Debt Management
Office (DMO), Akin Arikawe, said not only the civil service
required restructuring, but the political superstructure such
that political office holders could be made to work on part
time basis.

However, a member of the committee,
Abraham Laoshe (Ogun/Ad) while reacting to their submission
said that the two officers had chosen a wrong place to advocate
for the downsize of civil service workforce. He blamed the
Federal Government for creating commission upon commission
almost every other day, stressing that 70 per cent of these
commissions or agencies budget went into payment of salaries.
The representatives of the Nigeria Customs Service and the
Federal Inland Revenue Services Deputy Comptroller- General
Mpan Jang and Balami Mani respectively called for improved
funding of the two revenue collecting agencies so that they
could be able to meet their revenue target. They requested
that their funds should be tailored on certain percentages
of what they generated, stressing that as long as they depended
on certain allocations from the budget it would continue to
limit their performance. For instance, the deputy comptroller
explained that while the fund for recurrent expenditure for
Customs had been reduced from N1.15 billion to N690 million
their revenue target was increase considerably. On the local
transportation and transfer (LT&T) of the customs officers,
he said N110 million was required this year, but N34 million
was approved. The implication was according to Jane, was that
since the customs is a revenue collecting agency, it required
that officers should not stay too long on a duty post so as
not to compromise. His FIRS counterpart however said that
a draft bill that would review and restructure the tax law
would be forwarded in the second quarter of this year to the
National Assembly. The bill, according to Mani, would among
other things specifies how the revenue collecting agencies'
funding could be improve upon so as to improve their revenue
drive.

From Daily Times of Nigeria, 17 January
2003

Civil Servants Comfortable
With Dress Code Though Few Amendments Necessary

Civil servants have expressed satisfaction
with the dress code required of them by government despite
minor hitches encountered mostly by female officers. Officers
interviewed by BOPA indicated that they are still comfortable
with the code though a few amendments may be necessary to
suit the current trends. The Civil Service General Order demands
that male officers wear long trousers with a jacket and tie
or shorts with socks, or long stockings and shoes. Male officers
may also appear without a jacket but in trousers or shorts
with long stockings. Attorney Nchunga Nchunga of the Attorney
Generals Chambers felt that the dress code was satisfactory
but supervisors needed to be flexible given Botswana1s extreme
weather conditions. He said though the bulk of the code was
borrowed Western culture, "it can still be implemented
in a way that suits local conditions". He said as trends
were changing, formality of the olden days could not stand
the test of time and that had to be accepted. Nchunga said
in court, for example, if one felt it was getting too hot,
the individual could ask the judge to allow her or him to
take off the jacket but not the gown, which is regarded as
part of the court regalia. Nchunga noted that since the code
"emphasises on being decent and presentable, may be it
is time to amend it to clarify the dress code, especially
for women".

However, a records officer in the same
department, Kelly Letshwiti felt amendments were necessary
because unlike men1s, women1s dress code was not standard.
She said unlike men1s, formality for women was not well defined,
adding that "these days the general order is really not
being followed but instead conditions of work are considered."
As a result, the general order must clarify and specify dress
code for women, she said. Letshwiti said those with the responsibility
to amend the law should consult women because "we need
a comprehensive dress code". She said the weather was
not the real issue because in all seasons people dressed to
cover their bodies; and in winter people wear more clothes
just to keep themselves warm. "We wear clothes to suit
the season," Letshwiti said. However, officers at the
Ministry of Agriculture hold a different view on the dress
code. Montle Oratile felt that despite the scorching heat,
officers should not have any problems since they work in air-conditioned
offices, so the element of heat was not really a major problem.
Oratile said because civil servants represented government,
it was important they dressed in a manner that reflected their
status. He felt that it was not necessary to amend the dress
code because "if you are an officer, you must look like
an officer, if you are a grounds man you must look like one.
"It is not necessary for grounds men to wear a tie because
their job does not demand them," he said.

From Republic of Botswana, 20 January 2003

Roundtable on Public
Service Reform

The Government of Nigeria has embarked
on an extensive programme of public service reform with assistance
from the Commonwealth Secretariat. Representatives of Nigeria's
Management Services Office and Secretariat officials began
a week-long roundtable discussion in London on 20 January
2003 to review the country's plans for public sector reform
and exchange experiences and ideas on refocusing the reform
process. Also participating in the discussions at Marlborough
House in London, the Secretariat's headquarters, are representatives
of the Governments of Botswana and Uganda, two Commonwealth
African countries with a history of successful public sector
reform. The UK's Department for International Development
is also participating. "Previous efforts at public service
reform in Nigeria had not worked well, especially while the
country was under a military dictatorship," said Mr.
O O Oyelakin, Permanent Secretary, Management Services Office
and Co-ordinator of Nigeria's public service reform programme.
"At a meeting on the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD) in South Africa last year, we became aware of how
that country's reform programme had been assisted by collaboration
with Commonwealth partners. We decided to tap into the Commonwealth
Secretariat's resources to continue the process of redesigning
our own reform programme." The Roundtable, hosted by
the Secretariat's Governance and Institutional Development
Division (GIDD) and the Government of Nigeria, aims to explore
good practices in public sector reform and relate them to
Nigeria's reform process.

Topics for discussion include leadership
and the governance environment, improving financial management,
human resources issues in public service reform, structure
of government, performance improvement in the public sector,
and oversight and accountability. "This meeting provides
an opportunity to connect with countries in similar situations
to ours, like Botswana and Uganda, which have already set
up successful programmes," said Mr. Tunji Olaopa, Deputy
Director and Technical Head of the Management Services Office.
"South Africa has also indicated its willingness to contribute
to the process, which is useful because its experience of
emerging from apartheid has much in common with our own of
emerging from military rule." The Roundtable forms part
of a major programme of technical assistance in public sector
reform provided by GIDD to Commonwealth member countries.
The programme is funded by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical
Co-operation, the Secretariat's development arm. Also participating
in the Roundtable is Ladipo Adamolekun, Lead Public Sector
Management Specialist with the World Bank, which also has
extensive experience in this area. "We have learned that
public service reform programmes work best when they are demand-driven,
with the government firmly committed to the programme and
maintaining a sense of ownership of the process," said
Professor Adamolekun. "GIDD is doing an excellent job
in hosting this Roundtable," he added. "It is a
good example of the technical support and commitment one can
find from the Secretariat." The Roundtable will conclude
on 24 January with final remarks from Commonwealth Deputy
Secretary-General Winston Cox. "At the conclusion of
the Roundtable," said Mr. Oyelakin, "we aim to have
a revised public sector reform plan with a sharpened focus,
as well as a means of obtaining the resources to implement
it. We will also be seeking the support of the President for
the refocused process, which is a vital element of its successful
implementation."

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, 24 January 2003

Supreme Court Frees
Civil Servants to Join Parties

Abuja - Civil servants are now free
to join political parties of their choice according to a landmark
ruling by the Supreme Court. This was one of the high points
of the concurrent judgement of Justice Niki Tobi delivered
last week when the apex court gave reasons for nullifying
most of the provisions set out in the guidelines issued by
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for associations
seeking registration as political parties. Meanwhile, the
Federal Government has approved new salaries for public office
holders including judicial officers. The lead judgement of
the Supreme Court prepared by Justice Emmanuel Ayoola was,
however, not ready as he needed to make some corrections on
it. In Justice Tobi's detailed judgement on the case, he ruled
that guideline No. 5(b) which states that a person shall not
be eligible to be registered as a member of political association
seeking to be registered as a political party if he/she is
in the civil service of the federation or a state, is unconstitutional
because it "offends the provisions of sections 40 and
222(b) of the 1999 Constitution. He upheld the supremacy of
the 1999 Constitution to any law or guidelines as guaranteed
by Section 1 (3) of the Constitution.

His words: By Section 1- (3) of the
Constitution, if any other law is inconsistent with the provisions
of the Constitution, the Constitution shall prevail and that
other law shall to that extent of inconsistency, be void."
In November 2002, the apex court while delivering its judgement
on an appeal filed by INEC against the judgement of the Appeal
Court which voided its (INEC's) guidelines, reserved reasons
for its judgement till 24th January, 2003. The apex court,
in its ruling, while nullifying most of the provisions in
the guidelines, held that the electoral body was empowered
to make guidelines for registration of new political parties
subject to the provision of the 1999 Constitution. However,
President Olusegun Obasanjo weekend assented to the "Certain
political, public and judicial office holders (salaries and
allowances, etc) Act 2002," which prescribed an annual
basic salary of N1,405,882.00 for him, and a salary of N1,346,589.00
for the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN). The CJN's salary is
next to the President's. The President is also to earn 300
per cent of his salary as severance gratuity when he leaves
office. The Vice-President's salary is N1,212,629.00 while
other Justices of the Supreme Court, and the President of
the Court of Appeal will earn N990,884.00.

The rest are as follows: Justices of
the Court of Appeal/Chief Judge of the Federal High Court/Chief
Judge of the FCT, Grand Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal
of FCT, President, Customary Court of Appeal, FCT Abuja -
N777,150.00. Secretary to the Government of the Federation/ministers
- N794,085.00. Ministers of state - N777,150.00. Chairmen
Code of Conduct Bureau, INEC, Federal Civil Service Commission,
National Population Commission, Federal Judicial Service Commission,
Police Council, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal
Commission, Federal Character Commission, National Judicial
Council, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related Offences
Commission, National Assembly Service Commission and similar
commissions as may be established by an Act of the National
Assembly - N777,150.00. Members of the above named commissions
- N771,346.00. Auditor-General of the Federation - N770,752.00.
Chief Judges of State High Courts, Grand Khadi of the Sharia
Court of Appeal of a state, President of the Customary Court
of Appeal of a state - N798,172.07. Judges of courts of such
category - N776,038.22 - The Act did not prescribe salaries
or allowances for state/local government office holders, but
it fixed the salary of chairmen of area councils in FCT at
N454,156.00, vice-chairmen - N426,528.00, supervisory councillor
in FCT - N404,650.00, councillor - N380,038 and secretary
to the area council - N370,729. The President and the Vice-President
are entitled to 250 per cent constituency allowance. The Act
shall take retrospective effect from May 29, 1999.

From AllAfrica.com, by Lemmy Ughegbe, 28
January 2003

Government Urges Speedy
Civil Service Reform

Addis Ababa - A radical re-shaping
of the civil service within Ethiopia will ensure transparency
and speed up democracy, the government said on Wednesday.
In a statement released by the Ministry of Information, it
urged the continuation of the much-welcomed civil service
reform programme. However, the statement said that some government
departments were failing to meet the required standards of
the scheme, which was launched last September by Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi. "Ensuring the civil service reform programme
is an important task that demands change of attitude,"
said the statement. "It needs the conviction of the leadership
and employees that they are public servants and are duty bound
to exercise transparency and accountability in exercising
their duty." The government sees the reforms as a key
tool in improving democracy and accountability in Ethiopia
- a move that has been widely welcomed by the international
community. Among the reforms is a civil service college where
staff undergo intensive training in their role as government
employees. The call follows a radical shake-up of the Addis
Ababa city authority which was facing accusations of corruption.
The prime minister dissolved the capital's ruling body on
grounds of incompetence and replaced it with a caretaker government.
The new administration took over on Friday and pledged to
create jobs, alleviate the capital's chronic housing shortage
and improve the environment. An estimated 40 percent of the
population in Addis Ababa is believed to be unemployed.

From UN Regional Information Africa, 29
January 2003

Government to Civil
Servants' Rescue

Accra - The government has moved to
rescue civil servants regarding their housing needs following
which the Ministry of Works and Housing has stepped up efforts
at reducing housing problems facing civil servants on retirement.
The Ministry is looking for 5,000 acres of land at diverse
areas in the Kumasi metropolis to tackle this problem in earnest.
This is another bid by the government to make housing affordable
to retired civil servants, Mr. Asiedu Poku, the Metro Director
of the Town and Country Planning Department, who disclosed
this in an interview with the Chronicle, said the government
intends to service the land to be acquired at reduced cost
for people, particularly civil servants. The project is intended
to assist public servants to acquire their own property, while
in service while helping to reduce corruption in the civil
service to the barest minimum, Asiedu Poku explained. The
planning director, who lauded the government's initiative,
said core houses may he developed on the serviced land for
civil servants to buy.

From AllAfrica.com, by Sebastian R. Freiku
Kumasi, 29 January 2003

More Civil Service Cuts Planned

The government is considering a second
round of voluntary redundancies and pay cuts for civil servants
next fiscal year. Secretary for the Civil Service Joseph Wong,
speaking after a meeting with departmental consultative committees,
revealed the new redundancy programme would be open to more
categories of staff. "All staff grades and categories
would be reviewed, which means directorate-grade staff would
also be included," Wong said. However, disciplined services
staff would be excluded. Civil service staff representatives
expressed concerns about the possibility of pay cuts during
the meeting. "The government has made no final decision
on civil servants' pay adjustments. But when facing a serious
deficit and with a targeted HK$20 billion spending cut, we
cannot rule out the possibility of pay cuts," Wong said.
Government sources said the administration would seek a massive
reduction in civil service numbers through a series of measures.
The sources stressed that despite pressure to trim the civil
service by between 5 per cent and 10 per cent, the government
would not lay off staff. They said redundancy packages would
not be as generous as before. The Executive Council is due
to discuss the move after Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa delivers
his policy address on Wednesday. Federation of Civil Service
Unions chairman Leung Chau-ting said the proposed measures
were mild but expressed concern about the compensation for
voluntary redundancy. "I hope the compensation packages
offered in the second round is the same as the first,"
he said. "Otherwise, not many civil servants will be
interested and it will end in failure." City University
political science professor Sung Lap-kung urged the government
to be careful when handling cost-cutting measures. "Civil
servants might apply for voluntary redundancy in panic if
the government pushed too hard, which would affect the stability
of the civil service and public services," he said.

From The Standard, Hong Kong, 3 January
2003

Public Service Jobs
May Start by Lunar New Year

Cabinet officials said yesterday that
qualified unemployed workers may be able to begin new jobs
under the public service employment expansion program by the
Lunar New Year. The NT$50 billion public works expansion plan
and NT$20 billion public service employment expansion plan
proposed by the Cabinet would respectively create 40,000 and
75,000 jobs if enabling laws are passed by the legislature
during its current session. As of yesterday, over 40,300 unemployed
workers had registered for the public service employment plan
through hot lines opened Saturday by the Council for Labor
Affairs. Prospects for the passage of the two job creation
plans have risen since opposition People First Party chairman
James Soong said he supported the plans Tuesday, despite sharp
attacks on the schemes by PFP lawmakers Monday. Former President
Lee Teng-hui urged lawmakers of the Taiwan Solidarity Party
to back the plans. Given the urgency of the two programs,
Premier Yu Shyi-kun convened a meeting of the cross-ministerial
Public Service Employment Expansion Promotion Commission yesterday.
Yu thanked lawmakers for agreeing to put the two programs
on the legislative agenda, said Cabinet Secretary-General
Liu Shih-fang (¼B¥@ªÚ). Liu related that the meeting responded
to questions about the project raised by opposition legislators
by approving a detailed work plan that set up strict procedures
for planning projects, selecting job applications and supervising
implementation. Agencies which administer or subcontract public
service projects under the program will be required to appoint
special managers to supervise each project. CLA employment
service centers will also send inspectors to monitor working
conditions, according to the cabinet plan. CLA chairwoman
Chen Chu said that the hot lines were opened under a NT$4
billion initial budget passed by the Employment Stabilization
Fund December 4. The ESF funds will be able to fund 24,201
new jobs during the first six-month period of the program
out of a total of 75,000 planned jobs. "We respect the
legislature's powers and right to monitor implementation and
hope that the Legislative Yuan can approve the additional
NT$20 billion budget to sustain this program," the CLA
chairwoman said. "We cannot take care of all of the unemployed,
even if both the NT$4 billion and the NT$20 billion budgets
passed, so we must put first priority on the most needy,"
Chen said.

Priority will be given to workers who
have been unemployed for over a year, have a high number of
family dependents, have low education, have never received
pensions or unemployment insurance payments or have special
circumstances, such as being of indigenous peoples. Chen said
the commission will balance the distribution of jobs among
government agencies and among urban and rural areas, with
priority on areas with relatively high unemployment rates.
Of the 24,201 positions, 8,729 jobs will be opened by projects
which should receive final approval by the commission today,
said Council for Economic Planning and Development vice chairwoman
Ho Mei-yueh. The Ministry of Interior will offer 3,885 jobs,
while the CLA will employ 2,445 workers and the Council of
Agriculture 1,995. Another 15,430 jobs should be provided
by projects which require more consultation with local governments,
she said. The CLA will send the names of applying unemployed
workers who match the priority rankings to the agencies running
the projects within 10 days. Depending on how fast the agency
begins the programs, eligible workers may be called by employment
service centers to begin work before the lunar new year, Chen
said. The CLA will notify jobless laborers who do not meet
the priority rankings within seven days and, whenever possible,
will refer qualified workers to employment training or try
to match them up with other job opportunities. CEPD vice chairman
Chang Ching-sen said that specific planning for the proposed
NT$50 billion public works expansion plan awaits legislative
approval of the special law that would enable funding by lifting
the public debt ceiling. But Chang said the projects will
all be public works plans that have already been vetted and
approved by the Cabinet as part of the "Challenge 2008"
six year development plan that would be implemented in advance
of the original schedule. Chang said that the potential impact
on employment and boosting domestic demand will be key factors
in project selection.

From eTaiwan News, Taiwan, by Dennis Engbarth,
2 December 2003

Dr. M: Marked Change
In Service Quality Of Civil Service

Kuala Lumpur - Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamad said Monday he saw significant changes in the service
quality of the civil service after being at the helm of the
country's administration for 21 years. The Prime Minister
said: "I've never been satisfied with anything but I
am quite satisfied with their standards, improvement and quality.
If not, Malaysia will not have developed like this."
He was speaking at a media conference after the fourth Public
Service premier assembly where he also opened the Management
Technology Centre of the National Institute of Public Administration
(Intan) here. "The civil service had constantly improved
its performance and efficiency. If we see any area that needs
to be given attention, we'll act specifically to improve it.
"Yes, there is bureaucracy everywhere. Although there
is bureaucracy in Malaysia, it is not as bad as in some countries.
In England, an approval to repair a house takes two years
and to start a project up to 13 years," he said. Dr.
Mahathir said it took 14 years to build the fifth terminal
at the Heathrow Airport in London. "We are not as bad
as that. We are quite efficient," he said. On the collision
between "RSS Courageous," an anti-submarine ship
of the Singapore Navy and Dutch-registered "ANL Indonesia,"
a container vessel, near Pulau Batu Puteh waters on Friday
night, Dr. Mahathir said: "I don't think it could have
been avoided, ships collide. "But one of the problems
of this big container ship carrying 6,000 twenty-foot equivalent
units (TEUS) travels at 21 knots. When it has to turn to avoid
something, it takes a long time. That's how crashes happen,"
he said. He said ships at sea should maintain a certain distance
between one another. The captains of the two ill-fated ships
should have monitored the radar screen closely. Replying to
a question on "forward defence," Dr. Mahathir said
Malaysia never had any intention to go to war with any country.
"We don't (wage war) but it is the press that keep asking
us. We have to respond and I didn't say Malaysia wants to
go to war," he added.

From Bernama, Malaysia, 6 January 2003

BN To Have Code Of
Ethics For Its Members

Kuala Lumpur - The Barisan Nasional
(BN) will have a code of ethics to supervise its state assemblymen
and members of parliament to ensure that they toe the line
and abide by all the decisions made by the BN leaders, Datuk
Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Tuesday. The prime minister
said that the draft code of ethics would be discussed at the
next BN supreme council but did not mention the date. "In
future, all state assemblymen from the BN component parties
will be subjected to this rule and will abide by the BN stand
at all times," Dr Mahathir, who is also the BN chairman,
told reporters after chairing the BN supreme council meeting,
here. Earlier, BN secretary-general Tan Sri Mohamed Rahmat,
had said that the coalition would prepare a code of ethics
for the BN members as currently there was no uniform code
to supervise them and they were only subjected to their respective
party discipline. The move stemmed from the abstention by
two Penang MCA state assembly members, Tan Cheng Liang (Jawi)
and Lim Boo Chang (Datuk Keramat) last November from voting
against a DAP motion to defer the Penang Outer Ring Road (Porr)
project. They were later suspended indefinitely by the MCA
but Dr Mahathir announced Tuesday that the BN would decide
when to lift the suspension. "After discussion, we (decided
that we) need not enhance the punishment but must fix the
(suspension) period. Many BN members feel that we need to
have clear rules on the responsibilities of BN elected representatives.
"We agreed that they must all support the BN government
and have the same stand," he said. He said that it was
the BN's responsiblity and no longer the MCA's to determine
the duo's suspension period.

From Bernama, Malaysia, 7 January 2003

China Cracks Down on
Civil Service

China announced yesterday that it would
phase out a jobs-for-life system for the country's 30m civil
servants, signalling the intent of Beijing's newly chosen
Communist government to squeeze greater efficiency out of
its bloated bureaucracy. The announcement by the Ministry
of Personnel sounds the death knell for a lifelong tenure
system that guaranteed most government officials a salary,
pension, medical insurance, education for their children and
other perks - regardless of their performance. Over the next
five years, the government will put into place a system under
which civil servants work according to contracts and can be
dismissed if they fail to perform in line with a set of transparent
goals, officials said. In reality, a previous cast-iron guarantee
of lifelong employment for government officials evaporated
some years ago, with about 17,000 civil servants being dismissed
over the past six years and 22,000 resigning. Nevertheless,
the formalisation of a more Darwinian code for China's mandarins
is expected to pave the way for considerable changes in the
attitude of government officials towards their jobs. High-handed,
aloof and inefficient behaviour by officials towards ordinary
citizens is still the norm in most parts of China. In places
such as Shenzhen, a boomtown on the border with Hong Kong,
such reforms have already begun, along with a rudimentary
feedback system that allows the local administration to consider
public opinion on the performance of government departments.
It is too early, local officials say, to judge whether this
has been a success. A more common reform, also practised at
some central government bureaux in Beijing, has been to recruit
through an examination and interview system, rather than purely
through appointment by superiors. Administrative reform is
expected to be one of the priorities of a new line-up of national
leaders selected during the 16th congress of the Communist
party in November last year. Hu Jintao, who replaced Jiang
Zemin as general secretary, and Zeng Qinghong, head of the
main training centre for party officials and a close associate
of Mr Jiang, are known to be interested in furthering reforms
to create a more efficient, accountable and transparent government.
But western-style democracy is still off-limits.

From Financial Times, by James Kynge in
Shenzhen, 8 January 2003

Taxes Up, Civil Service
Cut as Hong Kong Tackles Deficit

Hong Kong's chief executive has announced
plans to increase taxes and cut the size of the civil service
in an attempt to wipe out the territory's growing fiscal deficit.
In his annual policy speech, Tung Chee Hwa said the deficit
has reached a "critical stage" that threatens to
undermine Hong Kong's financial strength if the Government
does not change the way it taxes and spends. Tung is beginning
his second term as leader of the former British colony. The
former shipping magnate says he plans to cut the size of the
civil service by 10 per cent within four years. Tung also
announced unprecedented pay cuts of 10 per cent for himself
and 16 of his ministers and closest aides.

From ABC Online, 8 January 2003

Public Service Under
Attack

Opposition Leader Colin Barnett said
high lead readings missed by the Department of Environmental
Protection were a symptom of deeper problems in the State's
public service. The DEP has been accused of failing to recognise
high levels of lead in air tests done last June at Forrestdale
Primary School. Local residents suspect the nearby Brookdale
liquid waste treatment facility, which has accepted hazardous
waste outside its licence conditions but with ministerial
approval, of polluting the area. "It is very easy for
the Government of the day to blame the individual public servants
involved," Mr. Barnett said. "And yes, they are
responsible. However, you also have to ask the question -
where was the management of those personnel and what is happening
within government departments in this State?" Acting
Premier Eric Ripper said that both the consultant and DEP
were at fault for not reacting to the high lead readings.
But he said that the Minister and the Premier or Acting Premier
were ultimately responsible for mistakes the Government made.
"What you have had is inexplicable and astonishing mistakes
in government departments for which ministers take responsibility
and for which ministers are implementing appropriate remedial
action," Mr. Ripper said. He confirmed the Government's
pledge of independent air sampling and blood tests for children
in the area. Residents' group spokesman Paddy Cullen said
the Government was not serious about getting to the root of
the problem because it was doing the minimum amount of testing.
He said that a fuller range of toxins needed to be looked
for through urine tests and hair samples. The Community and
Public Sector Union-Civil Service Association said successive
State governments were responsible for creating the situation,
which had eroded public confidence in the department. Branch
secretary Toni Walkington said budget cuts, restructuring
and government policy that promoted out-sourcing were reasons
the DEP could not cope with its regulatory and investigative
roles. "Successive governments have not addressed the
real issue of funding the DEP adequately," she said.
"We are now urging this Labor Government to bite the
bullet and do something about it. "Otherwise the WA community
will continue to be victims of environmental pollution."

From The West Australian, by Andrew Gregory,
8 January 2003

Snoopers Can Target
Civil Servants

Politicians now have the right to pry
into the personal lives and political opinions of tens of
thousands of public sector employees across the UK - without
the workers even knowing about it. The Observer has obtained
an internal civil service memo which warns that since Christmas
elected representatives have been allowed access to 'sensitive
personal data' about their staff. Civil liberties groups last
night expressed concern about what they said was an assault
on workers' privacy. The document, dated 9 January 2003, was
circulated to civil servants at the Department of Employment
and Learning in Northern Ireland. It deals with the implications
of the Data Protection Act 1998. It says: 'The purpose of
the Order is to allow sensitive personal data to be disclosed
to elected representatives, i.e. MPs, MLAs, MEPs, acting on
behalf of constituents, without seeking the individual's explicit
consent.' Veronica Bintley, the senior civil servant in Belfast,
who drafted the memo, then goes on to define what 'sensitive
personal data' actually are under the Act: 'Race or ethnic
origin; political opinions; religious beliefs; trade union
membership; health; criminal activity.' A DEL spokesman in
Northern Ireland confirmed that the Order applies not only
in the Province but also Britain. He denied that it could
be used by MPs, Assembly members in Scotland, Northern Ireland
and Wales and members of the European Parliament to gain information
about a civil servant's private beliefs and lifestyle. 'This
data will only relate to matters concerning the civil servant's
work in a given department. If, for instance, Joe Bloggs writes
up a memo to a Minister on an issue concerning an MP, acting
on behalf of a constituent, everything that this civil servant
has written from a report to a comment on a Post-it, will
be disclosed to that politician,' the DEL spokesman said.
But a number of civil servants said they were worried about
the powers of access the Order gave to politicians. One Northern
Ireland civil servant who did not wished to be named described
it as 'a charter for snoopers and interfering busybodies'.
Brice Dickson, the head of the Human Rights Commission in
Northern Ireland, said: 'Given the political sensitivities
in Northern Ireland of holding political opinions and religious
convictions, the idea of giving politicians access to those
views could be very seriously damaging to the individuals
concerned.'

From Guardian, UK, by Henry McDonald, 11
January 2003

Iloilo Public Servants
Can't Secure Loans; GSIS Blamed

A ranking Iloilo provincial official
has blamed the Government Service Insurance System for the
failure of many employees here to secure loans and other benefits
from the GSIS. Melba Sullivan, provincial treasurer, said
the GSIS suspended the granting of loans to government employees
for the failure of the provincial government to remit P1.2
million in membership contributions in 1997. However, Sullivan
explained that in 1977, the Department of Budget and Management
was mandated to remit to the GSIS the contributions of employees
of provincial governments by deducting the amount from their
share of the Internal Revenue Allotment. It was only in 1998
that the task of remitting these contributions to the GSIS
reverted back to provincial governments as provided by Republic
Act 7160 or the Local Government Autonomy Code, according
to Sullivan. Besides, she added, the GSIS has yet to bill
the provincial government for the contributions of employees.
"It is difficult to pay the amount without prior billing.
The GSIS should substantiate first the billing so we could
pay them," Sullivan stressed. "I already informed
the GSIS to furnish me the bill. However, they (GSIS) said
they could not prepare the bill because they lost their master
list of Iloilo provincial government employees," she
added. According to Sullivan, the provincial government has
surplus savings which would enable it to pay the GSIS the
unremitted contributions. Meanwhile, in a radio interview,
Rep. Arthur Defensor, also former Iloilo governor, confirmed
Sullivan's claim. He said the GSIS should have asked the DBM
to remit the employees' contributions as mandated by law.

From Manila Times, by May E. Joven, 15 January
2003

Civil Service Workers
Form Association

The Ministry of Civil Service yesterday
announced the formation of a civil service workers association,
skirting existing legislation which bans Taiwanese civil servants
from forming unions. Wu Rong-ming minister at the Ministry
of Civil Service, told the Taiwan News yesterday that "this
is a great leap for the country toward modernization of the
ministry. It is regulated that civil servants such as the
military, civil servants and teachers are not allowed to form
unions. But since Article 14 of the Constitution states that
every citizen is free to form associations, civil servants
shall not be deprived of this right." Since President
Chen Shui-bian implemented the Association Law for Civil Servants
on July 10 2002, the Ministry of Civil Service is the first
governmental department to form such an association. According
to Minister Wu, the association law took 10 years to prepare.
Articles in the Association Law for Civil Servants allow associations
to "give advice" and "negotiate" with
departments regarding issues concerning employees. Minister
Wu explained that with the intermediary of the association,
employees could negotiate and make recommendations to their
departments through a collective voice. "However, departmental
heads are not allowed to take part in the associations in
order to prevent them from interfering in the functioning
of the associations." The marked difference between unions
and associations is that association members are not allowed
to organize strikes. "Compared to other countries that
allow civil servants to form similar associations, the ability
of these associations is also restricted," Wu said. Unlike
regular workers, civil servants must obey the orders they
receive and they do not have many chances to express their
opinions, explained minister Wu. "But they are also people
who need to have this kind of right," he added. Minister
Wu saw the significance of the new association as "a
symbol of modernization and institutionalization of the working
environment in governmental departments. Second, these associations
can give pressure to the departments of their participants
through the administrative process. Wu predicts that soon
many more associations will be formed by civil servants in
other governmental departments.

From eTaiwan News, Taiwan, by Taijing Wu,
16 January 2003

High Interest Rate
for Civil Servants Deposits to Stay

Taiepi, Taiwan - The Examination Yuan
decided yesterday to maintain the high interest payments on
the pensions deposited by retired government employees, but
agreed to scrap lump sum pension payments to retirees. A total
of 339,000 former government employees currently enjoy the
preferential interest rate of 18 percent per annum on their
deposited pensions. An additional 500,000 retirees can also
deposit a portion of their retirement payments for the same
high interest rate. Lee Ching-hsiung, a member of the Examination
Yuan from the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), last year called
for the interest rate to be slashed as normal people have
interest rates of less than 2 percent at banks. He said the
high interest rate should be cut for social equality. But
the Examination Yuan has now officially decided to keep the
system intact after conducting a careful study. Chu Wu-hsien,
secretary general of the Examination Yuan, explained that
the favorable interest rate was set according to regulations
governing the retirement of government employees as well as
teachers at public schools and servicemen. Many people decide
to join the government based on the compensation packages,
including the retirement benefits. He said it would be inappropriate
to recklessly change the system without complementary measures
to avoid hurting those who rely on the interest payments for
their living expenses. The wide discrepancy in the interest
rates became a focus of attention only because Taiwan's unprecedented
weak economy has dampened companies' capital investment, caused
a monetary glut at banks and driven interest rates to record
low levels. Chu pointed out that the government has already
implemented a revised retirement system and those who took
up government posts after July 1, 1995 do not qualify for
the high interest rate.

Other officials said that the number
of people eligible for the high interest rate will continue
dwindling every year and the problem will disappear on its
own. Yet TSU lawmaker Chen Chien-ming expressed regrets about
the Examination Yuan's decision to keep the high interest
rate. He said the TSU will ask the Control Yuan to investigate
the continuous payment of high interest to retirees by the
Examination Yuan and the Executive Yuan. He also asserted
that TSU lawmakers will sharply cut the budget for the Examination
Yuan when the legislature reviews the 2004 budget of the central
government. Chen urged the ruling Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) to join the TSU to fight for social justice. He said
the DPP should not believe that backing the high interest
rate would lead to 600,000 ballots from retired government
employees in the 2004 presidential election. He said the DPP's
support for the high interest rate is bound to cost it votes
from a large number of workers, farmers and nonpartisan voters.
At the meeting yesterday, the Examination Yuan also decided
to eliminate the measure allowing retired government employees
to take a lump sum pension payment, as the government is planning
to implement a national annuity system. In order to cut costs,
the Examination Yuan will also study a plan to push up to
55 the age of retirees who qualify for monthly retirement
payments. It will scrap the current practice of giving an
additional five months' pay to those who voluntarily retire
upon reaching 55. Furthermore, the age will gradually be lifted
to 60 for retirees who are entitled to the monthly pension
payment. Statistics compiled by the Examination Yuan show
that 18 percent of retirees from government agencies choose
to take the lump sum payment while 82 percent prefer to draw
a monthly pension payment until the end of their lives.

From China Post, 17 January 2003

Civil Servants On SSM
Grades 41, 42 Eligible For RM300 Allowance

Putrajaya - Civil servants on Grades
41 and 42 in the Management and Professional Group of Sistem
Saraan Malaysia (SSM) are eligible for RM300 monthly Fixed
Civil Service Allowance in their 10th year of service in that
grades, the Public Service Department (PSD) said Tuesday.
Its Public Relations Officer, Hasniah Rashid, said according
to the Service Circular No 4, 2002 on implementation of the
SSM for Federal Government Employees, the allowance is paid
to those who are in their 10th year and above of service in
the stated grades or equivalent to it. "The RM300 monthly
allowance will be paid automatically to civil servants effective
on their first day in the 10th year of service on grades 41
and 42," she told BERNAMA when asked to explain on the
payment of the Fixed Civil Service Allowance for civil servants
on Grades 41 and 42. According to Appendix C8 Article 3 of
the Fixed Civil Service Allowance, the period of service taken
into account to be eligible for the allowance does not include
the duration of unpaid leave. The SSM, which came into force
on Nov 1, last year, offers better remuneration for almost
one million government employees. It was implemented as an
option to Sistem Saraan Baru (SSB), introduced in 1992,to
replace the service scheme under the Cabinet Committee Salary
Report implemented since 1976.

From Bernama, Malaysia, 21 January 2003

Make Concepts Into
Working Plans, Civil Servants Told

Kuching - Civil servants in Sarawak
have been urged to take up the challenge to turn concepts
into working plans in efforts to make the state a success
story. Sarawak Deputy State Secretary Datu Salleh Sulaiman
said today that they should find ways to add value when discharging
their duties so as to make an impact on society. "Because
the development requirement of the state is so high, these
officers, in their leadership role, must not be complacent
but should take the challenge to make the civil service better
and more sophisticated for the next generation," he said
when adjourning the Competency Level Evaluation workshop jointly
organised by the Public Service Department and Sarawak government
here. About 300 senior officers from state government departments
and agencies in Sarawak attended the workshop to discuss issues
pertaining to the newly implemented Sistem Saraan Malaysia
(SSM) service scheme. He said only 11 of the estimated 19,000
civil servants in Sarawak did not opt for the SSM scheme,
including four who failed to do so because of disciplinary
problems.

From Bernama, Malaysia, 19 January 2003

European Commission Says Public-Sector
Costs Undermine Economies

Pedro Solbes, the European Union's
commissioner for monetary and economic affairs, issued a strongly
worded warning to Germany, France, and Italy yesterday to
act on their burgeoning budget deficits. He indicated that
"unsound" levels of public expenditure in the EU's
largest economies and delayed structural reforms seriously
undermine the bloc's economic potential and leave it unable
to close the gap with the United States. Three years ago in
Lisbon, the 15 European Union member states promised to turn
the bloc into the world's most competitive economy by 2010.
Today, far from catching up with the United States, the EU
is unable to pull its weight in the global economy should
growth across the Atlantic falter. A series of reports released
yesterday by the European Commission show that economic growth
in the EU is likely to remain sluggish for the foreseeable
future if governments do not reel in growing public-sector
costs and continue putting off vital structural reforms. Pedro
Solbes, the EU's commissioner for the economy, yesterday warned
the three largest euro-zone economies, Germany, France, and
Italy, that they cannot "spend their way out of the slowdown,"
adding that short-term benefits of expansionary budgets would
be outweighed by medium-term costs.

Solbes yesterday gave Germany four
months to present a program for reducing its budget deficit
from 3.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2002 to under
3 percent this year, as required by the Stability and Growth
Pact underpinning the euro. This is the second warning for
Germany and could lead to financial sanctions if other EU
governments endorse it, although Solbes downplayed the threat
yesterday. "We're asking Germany to reach a situation
below 3 percent next year. If this [does not] happen, we have
to apply the regulation of the treaty, [and] the regulation
of the treaty does not imply any kind of immediate fine. There's
a second recommendation, and that is a long process. But I
think it is excessively too early to start speaking of these
kinds of questions today," Solbes said. Germany, which
itself had pushed for as strict a stability pact as possible
in 1999, now has a foreign-debt level that exceeds the 60
percent-of-GDP limit allowed by the treaty. The European Commission's
analysis savaged the entire substructure of the German economy,
describing it as "highly vulnerable" to external
shocks and unable at this point to generate durable growth.
It also notes "a need for urgent reforms" in the
labor market and social-security and benefit systems, as well
as recommends a reduction of the regulatory burden on the
economy.

In slightly kinder terms, France and
Italy were also warned that they are close to breaching the
3 percent budget-deficit ceiling this year. France's debt
levels hover dangerously close to the allowed 60 percent,
whereas Italy's debt is already at more than 100 percent of
its GDP. According to a commission forecast, the German economy
cannot expect to grow by more than 1.5 percent this year,
and growth in France and Italy is also unlikely to be above
2 percent. Solbes yesterday also implicitly criticized the
recent attempts by German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder to
try to balance his books by raising taxes. "We think
that it's always better to reduce expenditure to try to reduce
public deficit. Of course, the utilization of increased taxation
depends very much on the point of departure of the fiscal
burden in every member state," Solbes said. Elsewhere,
Solbes had noted that fiscal pressure has already reached
dangerously high levels in the three countries singled out
for criticism. Looking ahead, Solbes admitted that the more
flexible U.S. economy will outperform the EU for the foreseeable
future. Worse still, he also raised the prospect of a European
recovery being delayed for months, if not longer, pointing
to deteriorating consumer demand, increasing oil prices, and
the strengthening of the euro. The situation is complicated
by tensions over Iraq, whose effects on the EU are "impossible
to predict."

From Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic,
10 January 2003

Civil Servants Refusing
Transfers May Be Corrupt- ACA Chief

Kangar - Civil servants refusing to
go on transfer should be investigated as they may be involved
in corrupt practices in their present workplace, Director-General
of Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) Datuk Zulkipli Mat Noor said
Monday. The Public Services Department (PSD) was studying
the ACA request that officers with opportunities to commit
corrupt practices be investigated in the event they refused
to go on transfers after a certain period in their present
workplace, he said. Speaking to reporters after attending
the opening of the national level Management Integrity Committee
secretariat meeting here, Zulkipli said the Malaysian Civil
Service should be strong without any element of corruption.
Zulkipli, who is also the national coordinator of the committee,
said the supervisory role it had played at ministries and
departments since 1998 had strengthened public service management
in the country. He said the ACA would be receptive to any
information even that conveyed via the Internet and would
investigate it professionally. The ACA had assigned a work
target of opening at least 10 new investigation files this
year for each of its 260 odd probe officers, he said. The
two-day meeting opened by Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri
Shahidan Kassim was attended by 100 representatives from 25
ministries and 13 from state governments.

From Bernama, Malaysia, 13 January 2003

Fresh Row Looms Over
Rights of New Public Service Recruits

Efforts by Downing Street to improve
its relations with the trade unions have suffered an early
setback, after secret talks failed to settle a row over how
public service workers should be treated by private sector
employers. The dispute over the treatment of new recruits
to local government services that are contracted out means
a row which dominated last autumn's Labour conference is about
to re-erupt, with unions considering strike action. It is
understood that senior officials from the GMB, TGWU and Unison
unions have held negotiations with Pat McFadden, Downing Street's
new link man, Ian McCartney, the pensions minister who has
taken on a union liaison brief, and John Reid, Labour party
chairman. The talks followed a meeting in December with Tony
Blair, at which the prime minister listened to their concerns.
However, union leaders are braced for disappointment ahead
of a meeting on Thursday with Nick Raynsford, local government
minister, and employers. Some union leaders were prepared
to water down their demands, asking for new recruits to be
employed on "favourable" terms by private operators
in comparison with their colleagues transferred from the public
sector. This compared with earlier demands that they be treated
"no less favourably". But the government has refused
to budge on this crucial issue, sticking to the term "broadly
comparable", a more general phrase that private operators
have agreed to and are not prepared to give up. John Edmonds,
general secretary of the GMB union, is disappointed that so
little progress has been made since the Labour party conference,
when the prime minister appeared to offer the unions an olive
branch. A GMB insider said business protests had scuppered
hopes for stronger worker protection. "We'd seen a lot
of positive movement in recent weeks and were hopeful of realising
a resolution. But it seems Downing Street got cold feet."
Local authority employers expected no dramatic changes to
a draft code on the rights of local government workers. The
code is to be presented to union officials and representatives
of business and local government by Mr. Raynsford at Thursday's
meeting.

From Financial Times, by Christopher Adams
and David Turner, 14 January 2003

Shake-up Urged in
Civil Service Practices

A shake-up in competition procedures
for civil service jobs is proposed in a document circulated
by Government officials to public sector unions yesterday.
Strong commitments to industrial peace and changes in work
practices are also sought in the confidential document, which
has been seen by The Irish Times. The document is based on
several months of negotiations between unions and the Government
on a programme of change and modernisation in the public service.
Unions must sign up to such a programme before receiving full
payment of the increases, averaging 8.9 per cent, recommended
by the benchmarking body in July. The draft document circulated
yesterday, and which is to be the subject of further negotiations
this week, proposes extending use of open recruitment to the
civil service. At present only jobs at executive officer level
and below are subject to open, public recruitment. In recent
years, the document suggests, a skills shortage in certain
areas of the civil service has become "clearly evident".
"Greater use of open recruitment and improved competitive
promotions are fundamental to the ongoing development of a
modern and dynamic civil service." The 36-page document
seeks improvements in services to the public in a range of
areas, including the health service and local government.
These would include longer opening hours for public services.
It seeks commitments to a "stable industrial relations
climate", an end to nine-to-five working for some staff
and a breakdown of tradition al demarcation lines.

From Irish Times, Ireland, by Chris Dooley,
15 January 2003

MSPs Demand Overhaul
of Civil Service

Plans aimed at persuading civil servants
to change entrenched attitudes and become more responsive
to the needs of the Scottish Parliament are to be considered
by a Holyrood committee. According to Murray Tosh, convener
of the parliament's procedures committee, mutual attitudes
have remained "disappointingly static" in spite
of the challenges of devolution. Mr. Tosh, who is also deputy
presiding officer, believes the relationship between the civil
service and the parliament is operating largely as it did
with the Westminster parliament before devolution and needs
to be investigated by MSPs and ministers. He has put forward
a series of amendments to a draft report on an investigation
into the operation of the parliament which will be considered
next week. The report follows an inquiry into whether the
parliament has embraced the principles set out by the cross-party
Consultative Steering Group (CSG) set up before the parliament
came into existence in 1999. Mr. Tosh is calling on the committee
to insert a number of recommendations into the report which
will highlight the need for the civil service to think of
its relationship with the parliament and its committees in
"progressively positive and creative terms". His
comments underline the views of a number of ministers and
MSPs who believe the civil service generally has been reluctant
to respond to the changed ways of working demanded by devolution.

If Mr. Tosh's proposals are approved,
the committee will state in its report: "At present,
the relationship between the civil service and the parliament
appears to be operating largely as it did with the Westminster
parliament before devolution. "While the volume of contact
between the Scottish administration and the parliament has
increased, it appears to us that the nature of contact, and
the mutual attitudes of the civil service and the parliament,
have remained disappointingly static. "We consider that
immediate action is required to improve the quality of the
relationship between the civil service and the parliament,
one which is more in keeping with the CSG's and the parliament's
principles." Mr. Tosh, a Tory MSP for South of Scotland,
will propose to the committee at its meeting on Tuesday that
the report calls for a more open and relaxed relationship
between committees, and MSPs and the civil service, and that
"we expect the civil service to take a more pro-active
role in developing future relationships." His proposals
add: "In particular, we envisage a civil service which
is much more open to the parliament and its members and also
much more self-confident in its dealings with the parliament
than at present."

Civil servants should be able to assist
MSPs generally in their parliamentary work and should not
regard itself as working exclusively for ministers, Mr. Tosh
states. Mr. Tosh wants the committee to call on the Executive
and parliament to set up a steering group to bring forward
a "practical agreement" that would allow a new relationship
between the civil service and parliament. He said last night
that his committee, which had already discussed the issue,
believed there was a need for an agreed level of scrutiny
and accountability. Donald Gorrie, a Liberal Democrat MSP,
and member of the procedures committee, said yesterday there
was a general feeling among members that things had to change
and that there was room for improving relations between civil
servants and the parliament. He said: "For some civil
servants, devolution was a great culture shock. They were
faced with having to answer a lot of questions and letters
from MSPs and demands that they come before committees. A
lot of them are still steeped in the ways of Westminster and
many of us feel they must change."

From Scotsman, UK, by David Scott, 17 January
2003

Blair Heckled During
Public Service Speech

Students are unhappy with the new proposals
- A peace protester has shouted down Tony Blair during a speech
billed as an attempt to re-focus attention on government plans
for public service reform. The prime minister was mid-way
through the lengthy address spelling out his vision, and the
logic behind moves such as the proposal to allow English universities
to charge up to £3,000 for courses, when the man stood up
and started shouting. The heckler, a member of the audience
at South Camden Community School in London, demanded that
Mr. Blair answer questions about Iraq. But the prime minister
retorted to applause that he had spoken about Iraq over recent
days and now wanted to talk about public services. The man
had to be led away before Mr. Blair was able to return to
his theme, telling his audience that he wanted to move secondary
education "beyond the comprehensive era". Pioneering
- He seemed to go to great lengths to reassure left-wingers
that he was trying to achieve the same purpose that Labour
has always espoused - equality of opportunity. He compared
the challenge of reform that the party was now facing with
the pioneering spirit of the Labour government of 1945 that
introduced the National Health Service. The main theme of
Mr. Blair's statement was to defend plans to introduce top-up
fees in 2006, which will enable universities to charge different
fees up to £3,000. He will be keen to see off an expected
rebellion when the higher education proposals reach the Commons.
The measures, part of a shake-up of higher education in England,
will mean students will not have to pay until they graduate,
and begin to earn at least £15,000. Private input - But students
and academics warn the plans could lead to a "two-tier"
system and could saddle students with increased debt.

Mr. Blair argued that if the party
fails to improve education and the NHS, those who can afford
to will go private, leaving the majority dependent on low
quality public provision. He said the only way to keep middle
class parents and patients committed to public services is
by offering choice. The "one size fits all" view
of public services was out of date and this meant there needed
to be a willingness to use private companies and to challenge
the view that services must be identical for everyone. Mr.
Blair insisted that the "pursuit of excellence in public
services is fundamental" and he urged the party not to
"waste this precious period of power" 'Damaging
shibboleth' - "The greatest sadness is when people describe
the pursuit of excellence as elitism," he said. "It
is surely in the nature of things that some parts of a service
perform better than others. "But it is the oldest and
most damaging shibboleth in the left-wing book that levelling
down is the route to equality and social justice. "In
fact it is excellence within a public service that provides
a spur to greater achievement and the levelling up of the
whole service." Mr. Blair said more funds were needed
to allow more students to go to university "and we need
to expose the myth that somehow at present we have an egalitarian
nirvana where all students and universities are treated the
same and benefit the same - this is emphatically not the case".
"Our deal means a bigger subsidy from the taxpayer to
universities. No parents need to pay fees at all, maintenance
grants come back for the poorer students, fees are converted
into loans and only paid back when the student has graduated
and the loans are interest free. "The only thing we ask
in return is that for those universities that are at the top
end and receive most taxpayers money, they find some of any
additional income they need - over and above state funding
- in higher fees from their students who after all are getting
the huge benefit of a top-class education." Some 180
Labour and opposition backbenchers have already signed a Commons
motion against top-up fees.

From BBC, UK, 23 January 2003

Peter's Rank Table
Reincarnated in Putin's New Bill

Despite the sabotage from the Agrarian-Communist
factions, the State Duma has passed at its first reading one
of the bills of primary importance to President Putin - the
draft law on the system of civil service in the Russian Federation.
Adopting this bill is the first stage in creating a fundamentally
new hierarchy, similar to the 18th century Rank Table, introduced
by Peter the Great. According to the explanatory note attached
to the bill, it must determine the legal and organizational
foundations of the civil service system in the Russian Federation.
It is suggested that the country will have four types of civil
service - a federal civil service, a military service, a law
enforcement service and also a state civil service in the
subjects of the federation. The definition of a civil servant
will be unified - this will be a term describing everyone
receiving a salary from the federal or a regional budget.
The term state civil service is described in the new draft
law for the first time ever. This is the ''professional activity
of Russian citizens aimed at providing the execution of powers
of the Russian Federation, federal bodies of power, bodies
of power of the subjects of the Russian Federation, persons
taking constitutional posts in the federal centre and the
positions instituted by constitutions, statutes and laws of
the federation subjects''.

The bill, approved after the first
reading on Friday is just the first step in the realization
of the federal program called 'Reform of the civil service
in the Russian Federation in 2003-2005' signed by Putin on
November 21. It is obvious that after the framework draft
law is approved, the Duma will face the major task of adjusting
the already existing laws - in particular the bill on the
police force and the bill on military service. The minimum
and maximum age of joining and leaving the civil service must
also be determined. Apart from that, for the first time since
the 1917 revolution the law divides all civil servants into
class and diplomatic ranks. In other words, Putin intends
to recreate the famous rank table established by Peter the
Great. It is interesting that the obvious parallel has not
been drawn by the journalists but by the deputy chief of the
presidential administration Dmitry Medvedev. Approval of the
framework reform bill has met no serious objections from the
Duma deputies. Only the communists and agrarians voted against
the bill. They did so together and communist deputy Vasily
Ivar has expressed their unanimous opinion on the subject:
the proposed bill does not match the population's demands.

The deputy then said that there is
only one document today that is demanded by the people - and
this is the Code of the Builders of Communism, the one used
in Lenin's personnel selection, and thus, the communists voted
against the new initiative out of ideological prejudice. The
return to the class rank system for them is almost the same
as returning to monarchy. Not every mind can contend with
the table of ranks and the double-headed eagle together with
the Soviet anthem, red stars on the Kremlin towers and Lenin's
mummified body in the Mausoleum. In any case, the votes cast
by the communists and agrarians proved of little consequence
for the approval of the bill after the first reading. It was
supported by 260 deputies, with just 104 voting against. Satisfied
representatives of the Kremlin administration have told the
press that the draft law On the Fundamentals of the State
Civil Service in the Russian Federation, describing in detail
one of the four fields of official activity, would be submitted
to the parliament in the nearest future. The bill is now in
the development stage. The other three bills have not yet
been formulated in an acceptable way for the parliamentarians.

From Gazeta.ru, Russia, by Anton Brazhitsa,
27 January 2003

Arab Region: Report Finds Rise in
Petty Corruption

Transparency International issues damning
summary - Corruption among senior state officials and politicians
in the Arab world was rampant in 2001-02, although incidences
of grand corruption declined, according to a damning new report
from Transparency International, the world's leading anti-corruption
NGO. In its analysis of corruption in the Arab world, the
Global Corruption Report 2003, released Wednesday, argues
that a decline in real income due to global recession has
seen a rise in petty corruption in the Middle East and North
Africa (MENA) region. The prevalence of grand corruption has
decreased in the region only because of "reduced opportunities
for 'commissions' as a result of an economic recession,"
the report states. "Global slowdown, reduced investment
in emerging markets and a fall in oil prices has resulted
in declining capital investment and a slump in construction
and arms procurement." The report argues that in a widespread
climate of authoritarian rule in the MENA region, the root
causes of corruption have failed to be addressed, and unless
far-reaching political reform is initiated anti-corruption
strategies are unlikely to succeed. The 2003 report is a follow-up
to Transparency International's 2001 report, which for the
first time mapped the global fight against corruption, highlighting
business, political, civil and financial standards and practices
in different world regions. The 2003 edition reveals that
corruption remains endemic and systemic worldwide, not just
in developing countries, and that the key to fighting that
corruption remains the prompt and accurate flow of information
between the public, media and activist groups. It focuses
on the need for greater access to information in the struggle
against corruption while exploring how civil society, the
public and private sectors and the media use and control information
to combat or conceal corruption.

Peter Eigen, chairman of Transparency
International and a former World Bank official, writes that
on a global level "the corrupt are running out of places
to hide," and both the media and the public "are
increasingly calling businesses and politicians to account."
In the Middle East, however, the report claims that the media
are less able to expose corruption due to conflicts of interest:
"Many TV stations are owned by government ministers whose
conflicts of interest are not addressed," he wrote. "Journalists
in the region continue to face imprisonment for criticizing
the political leadership, and most of the region's legislatures
have yet to draft, pass and implement freedom of information
laws." The report cites numerous incidences of imprisonment,
torture, and murder of journalists in many MENA regions. The
survey also highlights the fact that the international community's
efforts to curb corruption in the MENA region were hampered
by strategic and security interests. It suggests, for example,
that America pressure to effect Palestinian Authority reforms
and anti-corruption measures was dictated more by Israeli
policy and the desire to remove Yasser Arafat from office
rather than a deep regard for transparency or good governance.
It also states that international donors could do more to
fight corruption by imposing stringent conditions on donations.
"In February 2002, donors committed more than $10 billion
in aid to Egypt for 2002-04 but, as in the past, transparency
did not feature among the conditions attached to the package."

Two key factors behind corruption in
MENA countries, according to the report, are the lack of institutional
reforms accompanying economic liberalization programs. "The
granting of private licenses for providers of mobile phone
networks … failed to put in place impartial and effective
regulators in Algeria, Lebanon, Syria and Tunisia," the
survey states. "This explains the wide levels of discretionary
powers enjoyed by private providers and state officials, which
often degenerate into corruption." Although
the report is positive in reflecting the fact that all MENA
governments acknowledge that corruption is an impediment to
good governance, it goes on to cite examples of state procurement
and corrupt practices in Egypt, Syria, Algeria, Iran and Israel.
Fewer opportunities for "commissions" appear to
have caused a decline in cases of grand corruption in the
Arab world in 2001-02, the report says. In Lebanon, for example,
the decline in the prevalence of grand corruption was due
to expenditure on capital investment contracting sharply as
a result of budgetary constraints. "'Commissions' in
the post-war reconstruction program traditionally exceed 20
percent of the contract's value," the report states.
On the other hand, it claims that petty corruption in the
region has risen as real incomes have fallen because "public
servants attempt to compensate for the loss in purchasing
power by demanding more bribes. Independent evidence tends
to confirm that petty bribery (baksheesh) has been rising."
The report cites a study by the Index of Economic Freedom
that registered an increase in corruption by low-ranking officials
in Algeria, Lebanon and Tunisia.

The most obvious conclusion the survey
reaches details the impact corruption has on foreign direct
investment, which for many Arab countries is considered vital
for encouraging economic prosperity. In particular, it attributes
private sector involvement in corruption in MENA countries
to "systematic collusion between public and private sectors,"
and points out that differentiating between the 'public' and
'private' domains is difficult "since power is exercised
by networks of families and individuals with parallel stakes
in politics and business." Saudi Arabia is a prime example
of this "where entire businesses are monopolized by princes
and their affiliated partners in the private sector."
Efforts at reform are being made among some business confederations
but it remains marginal due to government control of many
such groups. The Moroccan Confederation of Employers and the
Lebanese Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture, however,
have implemented codes of ethics on corporate governance.
Despite the massive, systemic level of corruption in the MENA
region the Global Corruption Report highlights, public awareness
of corruption and its consequences on society is on the rise,
with more and more NGOs promoting transparency attempting
to build on that awareness. In Morocco, Transparency Maroc,
and in Lebanon La Fassad (No Corruption) both offshoots of
Transparency International consistently work to promote clarity
at all levels of society. In Yemen, an NGO Forum for Civil
Society actively fights corruption and an unofficial watchdog
group in Bahrain, the Bahrain Transparency Society, was set
up in January 2002.

From Daily Star, Lebanon, by Ramsay Short,
23 January 2003

Vitali Wants Lawmakers Taken Out
Of Public Service Announcements

Harrisburg, Pa - Roughly $2M In Taxpayer
Money Spend On Those Ads Last Summer - A state representative
wants the House rules to be changed to prohibit lawmakers
from using legislative accounts to pay for television ads.
House leaders of both parties said the televised public service
announcements are an effective way for members to inform their
constituents about how to get help with a problem. But Rep.
Greg Vitali of Delaware County said they amount to extra campaign
advertising during election years by incumbents in contested
races. Vitali wants his proposal to be included when the House
rules are adopted Tuesday. That vote will come after new members
of the Legislature are sworn in. Aides to both parties said
that about 70 House members spent roughly $2 million in taxpayers'
money last summer to run cable-TV announcements featuring
members of the House running for re-election in November.
A spokesman for House Majority Leader John Perzel said members
should have the option of using their accounts for the ads
if they wish.

From WGAL, 07 January 2003

Cabinet Secretary Says
Public Sector Reform Paying Off

Cabinet secretary and head of the civil
service, Dr Carlton Davis, said the public sector reform programme
has been yielding tangible results, with the eight executive
agencies now contributing $1.2 billion to government revenues,
compared to $72 million in the 1998/1999 fiscal year. "What
we are seeing in respect of the executive agencies is greater
improvement in customer service, greater accountability and
a more business-like approach to management," Davis said.
The public sector reform programme was launched in 1996 with
assistance from the World Bank and up to November last year,
$1.1 billion had been spent on the programme, with the World
Bank providing $866 million and the rest provided by the Jamaican
Government. "We experimented with various managem+ent
schemes over the years, including the setting up of statutory
bodies in an effort to bring greater efficiency to the public
sector and the results were not encouraging in several instances,"
Davis recalled. He stressed, however, that the present reform
process was geared at making the state more enabling and facilitatory
of private sector expansion. He stressed that this was particularly
important given the constraints facing the government on the
fiscal side - with over 62 per cent of the budget going to
debt servicing - and with the retreat of the state from investment
in the economy. After education, security, health and debt
payments, very little is left in the government's budget to
do other things, "so you have to depend on private investment
for the jobs and economic expansion", Davis stressed.
"Your state agencies have to operate at the highest levels
of efficiency to facilitate private business to get on with
the job of boosting production and exports," he added.
In its executive agency programme, the government had carefully
chosen certain key agencies whose work had a major impact
on business and investment, such as the National Land Agency
(NLA), the Customs Department, the National Environment and
Planning Agency (NEPA), the Office of the Registrar of Companies
(ORC), the Administrator General's Department (AGD), among
others.

Highlighting just one example of an
executive agency whose work significantly impacts on business,
Davis cited the Registrar of Companies which became an executive
agency in April 1999. During the last fiscal year, the ORC
had registered a 96 per cent customer satisfaction rate, compared
to a 50 per cent customer satisfaction rate in the pre-executive
agency years. Additionally, prior to becoming an executive
agency, it took an average six weeks for new companies and
business names to be registered. But since 1999, the time
for the registration of new companies has been reduced to
two working days and, one working day for the registration
of business names. In 2001 the ORC, in association with the
United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
also began a project to re-engineer the ORC's internal business
processes to be able to accommodate online service capability.
And in January last year, the agency successfully put 10 million
pages of company records online. At the end of the last fiscal
year, subscribers to the ORC's website could view images of
company documents online, rather than having to come into
the office. Davis believes that it is efficiencies and improvements
like those demonstrated at the ORC that will enable the private
sector to improve its own performance and its ability to create
jobs and bolster investments in the economy. The government's
public sector reform programme has also won praise from the
World Bank which pledged to "continue supporting"
public sector reform". The World Bank, in its paper on
'Improving Governance, Efficiency and Effectiveness in the
Public Sector', said: "The government is also implementing
a forward-looking Public Sector Modernisation Programme with
support from the Bank ... Service delivery responsibilities
are being transferred from different ministries to executive
agencies with increasingly positive results, in terms of increased
customer handling, reduced response times and to 20-30-fold
increases in revenue..."

From Jamaica Observer, 15 January 2003

Governor to Add Teeth
to Ethics Law

Gov. Sonny Perdue will propose legislation
as early as Thursday that would create unprecedented ethics
standards for all state officials - even the lawmakers he
will ask to enact them. The new governor's legislative allies
said Tuesday he will seek legislation to expand greatly an
executive order he issued Monday, hours after taking office,
that imposed new rules on the behavior of state employees
under his control. While the executive order covers at least
90,000 of Georgia's 103,000 state workers, it does not apply
to other elected officials, including legislators, or their
employees. The legislation being drafted would exempt no official
from new ethics requirements, a key lawmaker said. "Our
intent is to introduce legislation that will affect members
of the General Assembly, the constitutional officers and members
of the executive branch," said Sen. Bill Stephens (R-Canton),
the governor's floor leader in the Senate. "The intention
is to create an ethical atmosphere across state government,
so it gives people faith that decisions are made impartially,
as much as possible." Stephens and other lawmakers said
the governor's aides and legislators are piecing together
the ethics package. Legislators have resisted previous efforts
to strengthen their ethics rules, and how Perdue plans to
overcome that historic resistance is not known. Perdue's press
secretary, Kimberly King, would say only that the governor
would send the proposal to the Legislature on Thursday. Perdue
is acting quickly in his first week in office to address a
series of ethical missteps in state government that have drawn
attention during the past year. A poll conducted recently
for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution showed that nine of 10
Georgians rank ethics reform as a priority for the governor
and the General Assembly. Ethics advocates applauded Perdue's
initiatives. The effort confirms, they said, the governor's
intention to enact what he described in his inaugural address
as "the most comprehensive ethics reform in Georgia's
history." "We're delighted to see the new governor
take the leadership on this," said Bill Bozarth, executive
director of Common Cause Georgia. "We look forward to
some significant ethics reform overall as the Legislature
rolls out and begins to consider legislation that extends
the spirit of this executive order." The legislation
Perdue's staff is preparing follows a broad executive order
that covers employees of most agencies in the executive branch.

The governor lacks the authority to
extend the ethics rules to workers in agencies run by other
statewide elected officials: the state school superintendent,
the agriculture, insurance and labor commissioners, the attorney
general and public service commissioners. Nor could he apply
the rules to the legislative and judicial branches and their
employees. The executive order contained a number of incongruities.
Perdue actually relaxed a key ethics rule put in place by
his predecessor. Former Gov. Roy Barnes barred employees from
accepting gifts, other than meals, from lobbyists and others;
Perdue allows them to accept any item, including meals or
travel, worth as much as $25. And while Perdue prevents judicial
nominees from giving the governor political contributions,
his order does not address donations from people he appoints
to dozens of state boards and commissions. Still, Perdue has
created some of the toughest ethics rules in Georgia history.
In addition to limiting gifts, Perdue's order puts unprecedented
restrictions on lobbying the governor and other state officials,
prohibits state employees from helping relatives get government
jobs or promotions, and requires employees to disqualify themselves
from decisions that present even the appearance of a conflict
of interest. Barnes' ethics rules also addressed nepotism
and conflicts of interest. As with the Barnes guidelines,
Perdue's ethics rules apparently cover the vast majority of
state employees, several current and former state officials
said Tuesday. At least 90,000 state workers from about 20
agencies would be required to follow the rules or risk disciplinary
action. Because the rules were imposed by executive order,
rather than by law, violators would not face criminal prosecution,
but they could be fired. State workers take seriously ethics
rules set by the governor, said Bobby Kahn, who was Barnes'
chief of staff.

After Barnes issued the ban on gifts
four years ago, "there was an awareness of it, there
certainly was," Kahn said. "The days of [free] sports
tickets and such and trips being handed out really ended with
that executive order." Perdue's rules - and the legislation
he will propose - would put Georgia's ethics standards closer
to those of a large number of other states. His executive
order made Georgia the 44th state to prohibit or restrict
the ability of state officials to hire or promote family members.
And it made Georgia the 27th state to place restrictions on
officials who begin lobbying as soon as they leave elected
or appointed government posts. Perdue could not impose such
a ban through an executive order, but he did direct state
employees not to speak with lobbyists who had left state positions
within the previous year. Lobbyists would feel much of the
sting of Perdue's executive order. It says the use of lobbyists
"will not be required or preferred as a way to obtain
access" to state officials. And it says state employees
will "strongly encourage" lobbyists seeking meetings
with the governor or his staff to bring his or her client
along to the meeting. Several veteran lobbyists said Perdue's
rules are unrealistic. "As a practical matter, at the
end of the legislative session, when the paper is really flying,
it ties the administration's hands when they can't talk to
the lobbyists who are writing the legislation," said
Neill Herring, a lobbyist for environmental and labor groups.
Lobbyist Rusty Kidd, who represents vending and tobacco companies
among other clients, said he understands that Perdue would
want to "slow down everyone coming into his office wanting
something." But, Kidd said, "It might take some
refining. I'm not sure about the mechanics." Perdue's
ethics standards have been evolving since his surprise election
Nov. 5. Just this month, he accepted two trips to National
Football League playoff games from Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur
Blank, whose team plays its home games in the state-owned
Georgia Dome. Perdue's aides said the trips were proper because
he had not taken office yet.

Harvard University yesterday boosted
the stakes in the national financial aid competition, announcing
a $14 million fund to cover costs for aspiring teachers, public
health workers, and other graduate students headed for low-paying
public service careers. The move makes Harvard the first in
the nation to establish a university-wide financial aid program
to encourage public service, and could trigger similar moves
at other top universities, said Terry Hartle, a senior vice
president with the American Council on Education. ''It's a
very significant development,'' said Hartle. ''The best universities
are highly competitive - for everything, including students.
Harvard has always taken pride in having its students go into
public service, and this will allow more of them to do so.''
The new Presidential Scholars fellowships will start next
fall and will benefit about 300 students over the life of
the program, giving them as much as $30,000 on top of the
full tuition relief and other financial support they receive
as fellowship students. Recipients could include medical students
who plan to practice in underserved areas, social scientists
doing population research, and teachers earning master's degrees.
''I believe these steps represent a significant move toward
the ultimate objective of drawing more young people into public
service, and making possible careers of many different kinds
for the most talented young students,'' said Harvard president
Lawrence H. Summers during a phone conference with reporters
yesterday. As he prepared to become president of Harvard,
he said, ''I was very struck by the fact that there was substantially
more and easier financial aid available to you if you wanted
to come to Harvard to be prepared to be an investment banker
or a lawyer, than if you wanted to be a scientist or a teacher.
It seems to me that that was something that was very important
for us to address.'' Along with the new grants, which do not
require repayment, Harvard is announcing a new low-interest
loan program for all its graduate schools, as well as a fund-raising
strategy that encourages donors to add to the public-service
grant pool.

Like any major change in financial
aid policy by an Ivy League institution, Harvard's announcement
is likely to induce ripples of reaction at other elite universities.
Two years ago, for example, Princeton stopped requiring undergraduate
students to take loans as part of a financial aid package,
and started giving them grants to make up the difference.
Stanford, Yale, Harvard and others have also increased their
undergraduate aid in recent years to compete harder with each
other. Since arriving at Harvard, Summers has said that universities
should find more ways to support public service; a year ago
he called for Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government
to give one of its public service awards to a uniformed military
officer. But educators at Harvard and elsewhere are often
frustrated to see idealistic students take private-sector
jobs because they owe so much money upon graduation. In national
surveys, significant numbers of students say they want to
pursue careers in public service after graduate school but
are dissuaded by the prospect of a heavy debt load and low
salary, said Hartle. More are likely to be deterred in the
next few years, he said, as state and federal governments
face large budget shortfalls, probably freezing salaries in
the public sector. ''It's not simply how much you borrow,
but your debt relative to how much you'll be earning,'' he
said. ''Someone who borrows $20,000 to become a radiologist
isn't going to have a problem, but someone who borrows $20,000
to become a Head Start teacher is.'' Other universities have
made smaller-scale efforts to reward students for their public-mindedness.
In Boston University's graduate programs for social work and
theology, the tuition rate is discounted, to $19,890 and $11,360
respectively, compared to $27,000 for most graduate schools.
At Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where the tuition
is $26,500 for the two-year master's degree program in public
policy, the average graduate left school last spring almost
$50,000 in debt - even though half the students received outright
grants from the university, and the average grant was $14,000
per year.

When they left Harvard, many of those
graduates were competing for prestigious federal internships
with starting pay of $40,000 or less, said Joseph McCarthy,
senior associate dean and director of degree programs. ''If
a consulting firm comes along and says, `Why not work for
us for a few years? You'll start at $120,000,' it can be a
sore temptation,'' McCarthy said. ''This is part of trying
to level the playing field.'' The new aid will funnel $14
million in grants to top students in eight of Harvard's graduate
schools, which will administer the grants separately, according
to their own requirements. The program excludes the law and
business schools, which have their own relief programs for
students who plan to work in the public sector. To ensure
that students do not receive the public service grants and
then take a lucrative job after graduation, Harvard officials
said, the grants will be targeted to students who are admitted
to specialties and programs with a specific public service
mission and a consistent record of graduates entering the
public sector. The university will also begin offering low-interest
loans, for as much as the full cost of a student's attendance,
in partnership with Citibank. Unlike federal loans, they will
be available to international students as well as those from
the United States, and are expected to save students between
$1 million and $4 million each year. Harvard and Citibank
will share financial risk for the loan program. Harvard's
announcement came on the same day the College Board unveiled
recommendations on financial aid in Washington, D.C., urging
more need-based aid and stronger support for ''students who
enter and remain in certain key occupations and those who
serve in high-need areas.'' A spokesman for Yale University
declined to comment on Harvard's announcement; he said officials
are reviewing the details of the plan and will release a statement
later. Henrik Dullea, Cornell University's vice president
for university relations, was traveling yesterday and had
not seen the Harvard plan, but said it sounded like good news
for students.

From Boston Globe, MA, by Patrick Healy
and Jenna Russell, 16 January 2003

First Lady Urges Public
Service on Holiday

First Lady Laura Bush urged area youngsters
Friday to use the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday for public
service even if it meant cleaning their rooms. "Instead
of taking a holiday for Martin Luther King's birthday, why
don't we all work together to make our community better,"
she told schoolchildren gathered at a city library named after
King. Mrs. Bush suggested ideas like being "especially
kind" to family members, lending a hand to teachers and
tidying their rooms. King "wanted justice for everyone
in our country, he wanted equal rights for everyone in our
country and he wanted to achieve those goals with nonviolence,"
Mrs. Bush said. "Our country is so much better because
of the life of Martin Luther King and because of the choices
he made the choice to be nonviolent and the choice to literally
give his life for civil rights." Her comments came as
anti-war protesters were mobilizing in Washington and around
the country for rallies, timed to coincide with the King holiday
weekend, protesting a possible war with Iraq. Mrs. Bush a
former librarian and the city's Democratic Mayor Anthony Williams
spent part of the morning reorganizing bookshelves at the
library to kick off a series of weekend public service projects
in the city. She spoke to about 40 kids, ranging from preschoolers
to third-graders.

From ABC News, 17 January 2003

Women Urged To Consider
Career In Public Service

Oklahoma City - Organizers of a program
on women in politics and government hope it will encourage
college women to consider careers in public service. Oklahoma
ranks 49th in the nation in the number of women in state government,
a drop from the 1980s when the state ranked 38th. Only one
of one-hundred-one state representatives and six of 48 state
senators are women. Cindy Simon Rosenthal, a political scientist
at the University of Oklahoma, says Oklahoma is not a state
that has reached out to women candidates. The second annual
National Education for Women's Leadership Oklahoma is scheduled
in May at OU. Organizers hope to encourage young women to
take roles as community activists and lobbyists or to run
for office.

From KTUL, OK, 20 January 2003

Civil Servants Begin
Classes to Prepare for Information Act

Civil servants in the Office of the
Prime Minister started attending classes on Tuesday to prepare
for the implementation of the new Access to Information Act.
The classes, which will run for four months at the Management
Institute of National Development (MIND), is the first in
a series of training for Government personnel. Speaking at
the opening session, Information Minister Burchell Whiteman
told the civil servants that there was a need to improve the
relationship between the citizen and the state in relation
to the flow of information. "I have no doubt that the
work here today can, and will make a difference to the quality
of life of Jamaicans including yourselves... We must remove
the gatekeeper and the gatekeepers' mentality. Knowledge is
power and we must seek to ensure that each citizen is empowered
to make an effective contribution to his or her own development,"
Whiteman said. The Access to Information Act was passed seven
months ago, despite strong opposition from several quarters.
It seeks to promote accountability and transparency by giving
public access to official documents in government bodies subject
to exempt provisions. "There are not that many areas
of exemption in the act and there is the possibility for persons
to make amendments to the act every two years", Whiteman
continued.

At the same time, he stressed that
the training programme was not to be viewed as "an end
in itself" and that some continual assessment of the
act's impact should be done. "Let us find a way of evaluating
the impact of the outcome of our work. Are people making better
choices (with the added information) and is it reflected in,
for example, social indices and the reduction of inter-personal
violence?" Oliver Clarke, president of the Private Sector
Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) agreed with Whiteman and charged
the trainees to aid in the fulfilment of the Act. "This
one act can do more for modernising the Jamaican society and
strengthen democracy here than virtually any other bit of
legislation. You (civil servants) are the pioneers that will
presumably change the Jamaican society and it will happen
if you have the will but it will not happen if you do not."
During the four-month training programme more than 400 workers
will be trained from various government agencies. The sessions
were scheduled to continue yesterday at the Management Institute
of National Development (MIND), and will include: * the fundamentals
of change management;* the ATI legislation; and records/information
management.

From Jamaica Observer, 24 January 2003

Public Sector Reform

Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Carlton Davis,
is reporting with satisfaction, that Government's Public Sector
Reform Programme has been yielding 'tangible results'. After
six years of operation of the programme in its current phase
and the expenditure of $1.1 billion, the eight executive agencies
created have contributed $1.2 billion to revenue in the 2001/2002
fiscal year compared to $72 million in the 1998/1999 fiscal
year. Success is more than increased revenue from a handful
of converted agencies. There are hundreds of agencies and
departments in the public sector. Numerous studies have been
done on rationalising the sector and improving efficiency.
The Orane Report of 1999, for example, made sweeping recommendations
for cost reduction and the improvement of efficiency in the
public sector. It is against such standards that we would
have liked to see independent verification of 'tangible results'
on a time line. The reform process, the latest of many such
efforts, was also intended to improve customer service to
the public. And, as the Cabinet Secretary puts it, the overarching
objective behind public sector reform is to make the State
more enabling and facilitative of private sector expansion.
How well has this overarching objective gone? While the State
is controlling more and more of the country's resources as
a percentage of GDP through taxation and domestic borrowing,
the enabling environment remains elusive, if growth figures
are an index.

According to Dr. Davis, over 60 per
cent of the Budget is now going to debt servicing. The major
part of the remainder goes to financing the public sector
wage bill rather than in delivering quality enabling service.
The greater accountability and more business-like approach
of executive agencies, including control over budget and staffing,
should assist in a shift of resource use. The country should
soon have greater access to Government information by which
to make informed judgements about these and other matters.
The Access to Information Act, which was passed in June last
year, is set to come on stream. An Access to Information Unit
has been set up in the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM)
and last Tuesday a training programme was launched for some
400 public sector workers. The Access to Information Act,
as we have always argued, will be only as good as the people
who deliver the information to satisfy public demand. The
OPM and the Ministry of Finance have supplied the first batch
of trainees. There are thousands more in the Public Service
who will need to be trained to handle the provisions of the
Act. Decentralised concurrent training has to be the way to
go if the Act is going to become operational in all areas
this year.

From Jamaica Gleaner, 28 January 2003

Bush Plans to Offer
Civil Servants Performance Pay Incentive

White House - President Bush wants
to start offer some federal workers incentive pay based on
performance. In his 2004 budget, Bush will propose a two percent
raise for all one-point-eight (m) million civilian federal
employees. On top of that, officials say he will ask Congress
to approve 500 (m) million dollars for a "human capital
performance fund," to be prorated to government agencies.
Agencies would submit plans on how they'll reward high-performing
or critical workers. They wouldn't be allowed to use their
shares of the fund for across-the-board raises. A supporter
says the plan intends to create a "culture of achievement"
in the federal work force. But the president of the largest
federal employees union opposes creating what he calls a "slush
fund" for chosen workers.

From Associated Press, 25 January 2003

Cisco Partners with WB Government
for SWAN to Drive E-governance Initiative

Kolkata - Networking major Cisco Systems
on Wednesday said it has partnered with West Bengal Government
to provide technology and solutions for a Statewide Wide Area
Network (SWAN) to drive e-governance initiative. The network
is the backbone of West Bengal's e-governance initiative to
provide voice, video and data communications on a converged
Internet Protocol-based network, a company release said here.In
the first phase, the network spans between state secretariat
and all 17 district headquarters, it said, adding the "network
would allow the state government to adopt a comprehensive
e-governance policy to make the transition from IT aware government
to IT-enabled government." The network is aimed at increasing
efficiencies and drive down communication costs for the government,
it added. In addition to providing real time data transfer
and aggregation for the various departments, it would also
provide multiple modes of communication. "For citizens
it would bring a single point of sourcing wide variety of
information such as land records, telemedicine and job, among
others," the release said. Commenting on the initiative,
Manoj Chugh, President India and SAARC of Cisco Systems, said,
"E-governance has been viewed as an important vehicle
in enhancing the administrative efficiency and effectiveness
to improve the provision of public services using IT."

From Economic Times, India, 2 December 2003

Digital Conversion:
Watch How You Write

If you've been trying hard to convince
yourself that your six-year-old's undecipherable scrawl doesn't
matter since it'll be just a matter of years before he punches
on the keyboard of a PC, think again. Seems like the world
may revert to using a pen (only we'll now call it a stylus)
and notebook called the Tablet PC. As you jot on the screen
of the computer with your electronic pen, its handwriting
recognition function converts what you've written to text
- provided of course your handwriting doesn't resemble "chicken
scratches". Sanjeev Mathur of Microsoft has a reason
why people might go back to scribbling on a pad (the tablet
or computer screen) - it's convenient and you can even recline
and jot down notes. "On a flight for instance, a Tablet
PC is just the gadget you would need. You wouldn't need the
space a laptop and it's keyboard needs - you can recline on
your chair and jot your notes on the tablet just like you
would on a notepad," says Sanjeev Mathur of Microsoft.
Karthik Padmanabhan, marketing manager, Microsoft India, thinks
it will be just a matter of 18-20 months before all notebook
PC users will shift to the Tablet PC. Though priced rather
highly at about Rs 1.5 lakh, this new gizmo in computing,
is set to catch the fancy of the affluent in the country.
Launched first in India by Hewlett Packard and its strategic
partner Microsoft, the Tablet PC runs on Windows XP Tablet
PC edition operating system. The Compaq Tablet PC TC1000 is
wireless-enabled. When used as a tablet, the Compaq Tablet
PC captures digital ink as it flows from an electronic pen
onto the PC screen, much like the way a pen and paper work.
Of course, if you need the keyboard, all you need to do is
snap on a lightweight, removable keyboard and convert the
Compaq Tablet PC into a notebook. Japanese technology major
Toshiba has launched its Tablet PC in the Indian market at
a price tag of Rs 2 lakh.

The Tablet PC is the ultra-portable
version of its existing Portege laptop, and is called Portege
3500. The company says its Tablet PC doesn't need add-ons
such as docking stations to run, and has Intel Pentium III
chip. Already software applications are being created with
the Tablet PC in mind. CMC has created the Versatile Computerized
Operations for Police Services (VCOPS) for Andhra Pradesh
- a functionally and hierarchically integrated enterprise-wide
IT tool for enhancing the performance of state police units
in crime control, law & order and administrative operations.
"The digital-ink-related features of the Tablet PC have
been exploited to bring out mobility for the application on
Police Operations," says Ramanan of CMC. At the scene
of a crime, a cop with a Tablet PC could jot down his report,
that would be converted immediately into text and made accessible
for any other investigators of the crime. "The focus
of the Integrated Information System is to computerize the
activities of crime, administration and support services across
the state in an integrated fashion so as to enable the division
heads and senior officers to obtain information at the touch
of a button that may not have been previously, or easily accessible
by them," Ramanan explains. Similar medical applications
have started coming up, so that doctors can jot down their
medical report on a Tablet PC. Many companies are right now
gung-ho about the Tablet PC. Padmanabhan says Microsoft's
goal is to get not just notebook users, but all information
workers such as doctors, lawyers, salesmen, journalists switch
to the Tablet PC.

Says Jayant Murty, group marketing
manager, Intel: "Just like all other mobile PCs, the
Tablet PC requires high performance and versatile power-management
features to maximize anytime, anywhere computing and connectivity."
Intel's Mobile Intel Pentiun III Processor- M is what the
company's promoting for the Tablet PC. But Ramanan adds a
note of caution: "The success of the Tablet PC will depend
on the number of applications that are available for the Tablet
PC from the various IT vendors in the country. With the kind
of projects that CMC is into there is definitely scope for
providing an interface for the Tablet PC." There are,
in fact, many applications in the educations and finance sectors
that have been coming up. "Students in most of the premium
business schools are now using the Tablet PC," says Padmanabhan.
In the banking sector, ICICI is al set to fill in applications
forms on the Tablet PC.CMC meanwhile, has plans to provide
a Tablet PC interface for their Insurance Product - Genysis.
"There are further plans of having some data exchange
between the two applications Genysis and Vcops after both
applications have a Tablet PC interface," says Ramanan.
There are a number of products that CMC has also developed
in the transportation, e-governance, banking, securities,
mining and utilities/energy areas. "Our R&D group
is looking at advantages of integrating the Tablet PC to increase
productivity/functionality in all these products," Ramanan
added. So are we heading back to the future?

From Economic Times, India, by Sobha Menon,
5 January 2003

West Bengal Government
Launches G2C Portal, to Set Up Info-Kiosks

West Bengal government today launched
its comprehensive e-governance portal, developed by Tata Consultancy
Services, to enable citizens access information on government
departments and make online payment applications. The portal
- wbgov.com - would provide services including viewing and
downloading of government tenders, departmental forms, examination
results, direct communication with government, agricultural,
health and education services. The government would also open
information kiosks, to be run on franchisee basis throughout
the state to enable citizens access the services through internet.
Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattcharjee, who inaugurated the
portal in the presEnce of TCS chief executive S Ramadorai,
said "our aim is to reach every village. We want to build
up G2C interface with eight crore people in the state."
While the citizens would only be able to access information
in the 'take off' phase, submitting applications online and
making financial transactions would be possible in the 'consolidation
and expansion' stages, he said. Speaking on the occasion,
Ramadorai said the application service provider (ASP) project
was taken up by TCS and WEBEL on cost and revenue sharing
basis on a 70:30 ratio. About the info-kiosks, he said about
80 units would be licensed in the first phase with 50 per
cent of those being in the metropolis. While information would
be available free of cost to citizens, those accessing through
kiosks, would have to pay internet charges. Besides accessing
information, citizens would be able to pay taxes and other
bills once the payment gateways were put in place. E-education,
online health services and other services like poverty alleviation
schemes, housing, other schemes of the government, etc would
also be provided at a later stage. Bhattacharjee said the
government has also asked TCS to undertake e-governance projects
for improving efficiency in seven governmental departments.
Ramadorai said the company, which had earlier executed similar
e-governance projects for governments of Andhra Pradesh, Madhya
Pradesh, Delhi besides Malaysia, would stress on increasing
the 'touch points' for the ASP project and imparting proper
training to kiosk owners. Private kiosk owners, he said, would
have to pay a license fee of Rs 40,000 per annum to the government.
On the revenue potential of the project, he said "world
over ASP models are still in an experimental state. The business
model will be developed once the services are accepted well
by citizens".

From Outlook India, India, 8 January 2003

TCS Plans Centre of
Excellence in Kolkata

Kolkata - Tata Consultancy Services
(TCS) plans to set up a centre of excellence in IT affairs
here soon. TCS Chief Executive Officer S Ramadorai told newspersons
here today that the organisation had a plan to increase its
presence in the state soon. The Chief Minister and his team
were very enthusiastic about promotion of the growth in the
IT related services. He said the company had received two
plots of land in the Salt Lake City, near here, to set up
its new units. TCS had been operating in the state since 1976
and had recruited a large number of people from different
engineering and allied institutions. The Chief Executive Officer
said the company would recruit nearly 2,000 people soon for
manning its different projects. Ramadorai was talking to newspersons
after launching of the Comprehensive e-governance portal for
the state government for interactions between the government
and the masses through the modern system.

From The Hindu, India, 8 January 2003

Singapore President
on High-Note Over Positive Partnership with AP

Singapore President S R Nathan on Wednesday
hoped that the "partnership for development" between
his city state and Andhra Pradesh would continue to grow beyond
the " Hitec City Phase-III - Cyber Pearl" - a joint
venture 500,000 sq.ft office accommodation project between
the state, L&T and Singapore based construction company
Ascendas. Nathan expressed his satisfaction over the friendship
after a computer aided presentation by IT principal secretary
J Satyanarayana at Cyber Towers at Hitech City. The Cyber
Pearl is slated to be completed by the first quarter of 2004.
Nathan who led a delegation to the CII Partnership summit
which concluded here today, went round Cyber Towers after
the computer aided presentation. In his presentation, Satyanarayana
told the visiting dignitary that the state expected to ensure
a software export of US $ 800 million this financial year.
Last year, the exports stood at $589 million, he said. He
touched upon the state government's several IT initiatives
including E-Seva, Online Trade Process (OLTP) and e-governance.
Tourism Minister T Srinvasa Yadav was the minister in waiting
for the dignitary.

From Newindpress, India, 9 January 2003

Government To Peddle
E-governance Experience Abroad

New Delhi: Encouraged by the goodwill
earned by private infotech companies of India in the overseas
market, government departments are also looking for opportunities
to prove their prowess in the sector. The idea is to capitalise
on e-governance experience to help other developing countries
implement similar projects. In what could be the beginning
of this initiative, India is expected to enter into an agreement
with Egypt and South Africa to help their government agencies
roll out Community Information Centers (CIC) and Grameen Sanchar
Sevak (postman with a mobile phone) projects. Government sources
told eFE that India has been receiving inquiries from other
developing countries seeking help in similar projects. "For
instance, there has been a high level discussion with the
officials from Egypt for the CIC project early last year and
we are expected to enter into an agreement soon," a senior
official of the ministry of communication and information
technology said. Similar tie-ups are also expected with the
government of South Africa during the visit of Indian minister
for communication and information technology Pramod Mahajan
next week. T

he minister along with the chief whips
of all political parties will be on an official visit of Egypt
and South Africa from January 11 to 19. "A key aspect
of the visit is the meeting with key principals in government
and industry in both the countries in an effort to give a
new vision to bilateral relations by strengthening India's
acquired global status as an 'IT and Telecom power'. Projects
like CIC will help India gain leadership position in the sector,"
said a ministry official. During the visit, the minister will
have discussions with the Egyptian minister for communications
and IT Ahmed Nazif. In South Africa, the delegation is expected
to meet the President, deputy president and the deputy speaker
of the South African parliament. The South African market
is the 20th largest market for IT products and services worldwide
and there are roughly 3,000 IT companies in South Africa.
IT constitutes 3 per cent of its GDP. Indian companies with
a significant presence in South Africa include TCS, Infosys
Technologies and iFlex Solutions. The total value of electronics
and computer software exports from India to South Africa rose
from Rs 75.39 crores in 1999-2000 to Rs 173.52 crores in 2001-2002.
Exports of electronics and computer software to Egypt increased
steadily from Rs 16.41 crores in 1999-2000 to Rs 18.06 crores
in 2001-2002.

From Indian Express, 10 January 2003

Blind Government Advisor
Submits Bill Online on Blind Education

Xia Rongqiang, the first blind member
of the advisory body to east China's Fujian Province, submitted
his bill via the Internet urging a bigger budget for blind
people's education. Xia is a member of the Fujian Provincial
Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
For the first time online delivery of bills to the committee's
upcoming annual session was allowed, and Xia's bill was the
first such submission. Xia said his election to the committee
showed that disabled people in China enjoyed equal rights
on discussing political affairs. Xia is principal of a blind
school in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian, which is affiliated to
the Hadley School for the Blind, an institute aiming to help
educate the blind internationally. The Hadley School has branches
in more than 100 countries and regions all over the world,
but Xia's school is the only one in China and Asia.

From EastDay.com, China, 10 January 2003

For Good and Effective
Governance: World Bank Grant Supports Procurement Reforms

Manila - A grant agreement of US $294,000
that will help Government carry out procurement reforms has
been signed between the Philippine Government and the World
Bank. The grant, Institutionalization of Procurement Oversight
Agency and Capacity Building, was signed by the Department
of Finance on behalf of the Government, and will be implemented
by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Government
agency responsible for improving the country's public expenditures
management through more effective expenditure systems, including
procurement reform. The Grant is being funded from the Bank's
Institutional Development Fund (IDF).*In response to the Government's
request, the grant will help prepare and complete implementing
rules for the recently passed Procurement Law; establish a
procurement oversight agency; develop and implement a training
program for procurement officials; and transform the Procurement
Service under the DBM into a corporate entity. These activities
were identified by the Government, the Asian Development Bank,
and the World Bank in their joint country procurement assessment.
The Government and the two multilateral agencies recommended
reforms to address problems in public procurement of goods,
supplies, materials and consulting services. Included in the
list of problems identified by the agencies were the confusing
web of procurement regulations, delays, collusion, lack of
transparency, excessive use of discretionary criteria and
lack of competition. These usually lead to graft and corruption
and translate in increased cost of doing business for both
the Government and the private sector.

According to DBM Secretary Emilia Boncodin,
the Government has taken several steps to reform public procurement,
among which are the consolidation and streamlining of the
different procurement rules and procedures through the issuance
in 2001 of Executive Order 40, and the development of the
Government Electronic Procurement System. "This grant
is timely as it would help us institutionalize the reforms
identified in the Procurement Act and would help professionalize
Government procurement practice through continuous training
programs and enhanced capacity-building measures," Boncodin
said. "We strongly support these important reforms that
should speed up projects and reduce waste and corruption in
Government procurement," says World Bank Country Director
for the Philippines, Robert Vance Pulley. "This potent
new weapon in the fight against fraud and corruption will
ultimately benefit taxpayers and the poor, who presently foot
the bills for higher-than-necessary costs and delayed services
arising from inefficient government procurement practices,"
he continued. To illustrate how procurement reforms could
help the poor, Mr. Pulley elaborated, "Under the World
Bank-assisted Social Expenditure Management Project, the Department
of Education and the DBM introduced more competitive and transparent
procurement of textbooks, school desks and chairs. The reforms
translated in Government savings of up to US$20 million, out
of an estimated bidding of US$50 million. This meant more
textbooks for schoolchildren and better quality of content
and paper." Another example Mr. Pulley cited is the significant
savings of about US$4 million (out of the $10million bidding)
similarly accrued to the government as a result of improved
and transparent competitive bidding procedures for textbooks
in the Department of Education as it implemented another World
Bank-assisted project, the Third Elementary Education Project.

Specifically, the IDF grant will support
the preparation of a plan for the establishment of a procurement
oversight organization formed from the merger of the procurement
functions of the Procurement Policy Board under the Department
of Budget and Management (DBM) and the Infrastructure Committee
of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA). Under
the Procurement Act, the new set up will enable the centralization
of the procurement oversight function to only one agency,
thereby creating a more accountable body. Another key element
of the country's reforms is capacity building by professionalizing
the cadre of staff and officials engaged in public procurement.
This activity will be initiated through a formulation of an
improved incentive system of training/skills upgrading, staffing,
compensation to support the procurement function of both national
and local government units. This grant forms part of the Bank's
current grant portfolio in the Philippines of $37.8 million
covering about 50 ongoing and approved grants. Of the 50 grants,
seven - including this one - are being funded under the IDF.
Other trust fund facilities managed by the World Bank include
the Japan Policy and Human Resource Development, Japan Social
Development Fund, Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) Trust Fund, Development
Grant Facility and others. * The Institutional Development
Fund (IDF) is a World Bank grant facility designed to finance
quick, action-oriented, discrete, generally innovative, upstream
capacity-building activities that are identified during (and
closely linked to) the Bank's policy dialogue and economic
and sector work, and which are identified by the Government
as priorities within the Bank's Country Assistance Strategy.
The IDF focus for assistance is in two priority areas: (a)
financial accountability and public oversight to help governments
better manage their resources, and (b) legal and judicial
reform to support the rule of law. For more information, please
visit the following: www.worldbank.org.phhttp://www1.worldbank.org/publicsector/anticorrupt/

From World Bank Group, 14 January 2003

E-Government: 'First
Fight the Hackers'

The government should make doubly sure
of the security of its e-government and e-procurement networks
from hackers before promoting them heavily, a security guru
warned yesterday. Prinya Hom-anek, president and chief executive
officer of the Advanced Certified Information Security Professional
Centre, said the government needed to do more to create awareness
of network security and educate staff in preparation for full-scale
implementation of e-services, especially e-government and
e-procurement. "It's not good timing to promote e-procurement
without encouraging awareness and knowledge of security. It's
very dangerous and opens possibilities of being hacked,"
he said. A blueprint is needed of the steps to eliminate security
gaps so that government agencies know how they should prepare
their network systems and how they can protect their information
and services from unwanted penetration, he said. The government
as a user should require application service-providers offering
e-procurement services to check their applications and systems
for protection from hacking, he urged. E-procurement application
samples should not be put online; they should be encrypted,
he said. The authentication process during a procurement session
must have at least 128-bit encryption using Secure Socket
Layer technology, he added. "At the moment many websites,
both private and public, provide authentication services without
encryption technology, which means when users log in to the
service they're vulnerable to being hacked and having their
passwords easily sniffed out," Prinya said. There are
many types of hacked patterns over the network included intrusion
(attacks from outside the organization), destruction, denial-of-service,
destruction, spam, mail-boom, forgery, harassment (person
use internet to abuse or to attack the others), virus, and
hack threat.

Denial-of-service and hack threat are
two key types of hacking that have potential to grow as much
as in this year in Thailand. Websites of large organizations
are the main target of attacking. "Last year, there were
about 36 websites of government agencies and more than 50
website of private sectors had been attacked, this figure
shows that we are unawareness on network security as much
as enough. Most of attacked source is from north Asia (25%),
especially mainland China, USA (19%), and Singapore (19%),"
added Prinya. Komain Pibulyarojana, director of Thai Computer
Emergency Response Team (ThaiCERT), as an organization under
National Electronic and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec),
which focusing on security, said that during 2001 to 2001
there were about 580 serious cases. They are included spam
mail 288 cases, port scan and probe 140 cases, virus, worm,
and trojan 97 cases, and others (hack, attack,..) 55 cases.
Currently, Thailand has expertise with security certification
about 10 persons while Hong Kong has the most number of security
human resources in Asia region about 732 persons, following
with Korea with 249 persons. The total number of expertise
with security certification in Asia region is about 1,594
persons, while it is about 10,000 persons in worldwide. However,
there are screen virus service, called GITS Mail Cleaner,
for government websites that provided by Government Information
Technology Services (GITS). Government agencies who apply
for service will be protected virus from outside. In last
year, GITS Mail Cleaner service reported that there were 60,000
to 70,000 times that 23 websites of government agencies attacked
by virus. "If government starts e-procurement without
establishing the network security and without concerning on
educating the network security knowledge, e-service might
be worst for people," concluded Prinya.

There are many hacking patterns over
the Internet, including intrusion (attacks from outside the
organisation), destruction, denial of service, spam, mail-bombing,
forgery, harassment (using the Internet to abuse or attack
someone), viruses and hacking threats. Denial of service and
hacking threats are two key types with the potential to grow
this year in Thailand. Websites of large organisations are
the main targets. "Last year 36 websites of government
agencies and more than 50 of private companies were attacked,
and this figure shows that we are careless of network security.
Most attacks emanate from north Asia (25 per cent) - especially
mainland China - the US (19 per cent) and Singapore (19 per
cent)," Prinya added. Komain Pibulyarojana, director
of the Thai Computer Emergency Response Team (ThaiCERT), a
security organisation under the National Electronic and Computer
Technology Centre (Nectec), said that in 2001 and 2002 there
had been 580 serious cases: 288 involving spam, 140 port scans
and probes, 97 viruses, worms and trojans and another 55.
Thailand has 10 security experts; Hong Kong has the most in
Asia with 732, followed by South Korea with 249. Asia as a
whole has 1,594, among some 10,000 worldwide. We have, however,
the GITS Mail Cleaner virus-screening service for government
websites, provided by the Government Information Technology
Services. It reported 60,000 to 70,000 attacks on 23 government
websites in the last year. "If government starts e-procurement
without establishing network security and teaching people
about it, e-service could be the worst thing that ever happened,"
Prinya said.

From The Nation, by Asina Pornwasin, 15
January 2003

Planning Commission
Asks Department of IT to Cut Down Its Outlay by Half

New Delhi - Planning Commission is
understood to have asked Department of Information Technology
to scale down its annual plan outlay by fifty per cent for
the fiscal 2003-04 by about Rs 600 crore. The Commission directed
the department during a meeting between the plan panel and
DIT recently to revise the outlay to Rs 600 crore against
Rs 1200 crore sought by the department, official sources said.

From Indian Express, 15 January 2003

E-governance Highest
Growing Vertical in Indian IT: Nasscom

E-governance market grew by 18 per
cent last year touching a marke tsize of Rs 1400 crore besides
becoming the highest growing vertical in the domestic IT market,
according to the latest findings of Nasscom. Kiran Karnik,
president, Nasscom, said the market is gaining traction but
there are challenges which are stalling progress. To make
e-governance a part of administration, he said government
must ensure that three per cent of the budget is committed
towards e-governance and rewrite the tendering and bid evaluation
process among other things apart from charting a clear roadmap
for it. "If these recommendations are implemented, it
could save up to Rs 500 crore in the transaction process costs
per year and increase its revenue by Rs 2000 crore through
better tax enhancement annually", Karnik said. The return
on investment from all these measures will allow the government
to spend at least Rs 10,000 crore per year on e-governance,
he said. Speaking on the occasion, R Chandrasekher, joint
secretary, department of IT said the draft e-governance policy
is ready and the final policy could come out anytime after
the initial consultations and interactions with related people.
Giving a phase-bound timeframe, Karnik said during phase one
National Institute of Smart Governance (NISG) should be made
operational by the end of 2003 and all class I government
officers should be given IT training compulsorily. More identification
of core national projects that need to be automated and roll-out
of national citizen ID cards also should become a reality
in this phase. By the end of 2005, citizen services should
be offered on line in all states and 50 per cent of all procurement
should be over the internet, the recommendations said.

From Hindustan Times, India, 16 January
2003

Innovation: Key To
Asia's Growth

Tokyo - East Asia's future as one of
the world's most dynamic, resilient and interdependent economic
regions could be realized, if it follows through on an institutional
reform agenda and embraces technology and innovation - and
with it, investments in education and knowledge. This could
breathe new life into the region's development prospects and
speed the transition of a number of countries into the ranks
of developed nations. This is the future of innovative growth
according to a new World Bank study, Innovative East Asia:
The Future of Growth. The report, released today in Tokyo,
states that while before, resource inputs were the principal
sources of past growth, the future in East Asia rests on the
emergence of an environment that promotes innovation. In particular,
the research points out that East Asia's successful model
of development - one that yielded three decades of spectacular
growth and with that growth, poverty reduction - is likely
to be less effective in the future, with diminishing returns.
It cites factors such as Asia's major exports being transformed
into low value-added commodities, and emerging competition
both from lower cost producers and from mega-global contract
manufacturers as reasons for the diminished effectiveness
of the "Asian model." The only way forward, the
report urges, is that East Asia's industrializing economies
go beyond the imitative phase of development, and into the
innovative phase, moving up the product value chain and extending
their reach into services - both of which call for a deliberate
focus on innovation as the major source of growth.

World Bank President James D. Wolfensohn,
who was in Tokyo to launch the report, commented, "Unless
East Asia moves toward a technological, rather than a factor-intensive,
mode of production, it will experience slower growth in the
future - and with that slower growth, diminished chances to
bring millions out of poverty, to give millions a chance of
a better life, a better education, a better future."
He continued, "It is crucial then, that the countries
of East Asia, even as they struggle with the challenges of
today's immediate priorities and pressing concerns, seize
the initiative and begin laying the seeds for a more innovative,
competitive future." Innovative East Asia: The Future
of Growth is the main output of a three year research project,
initiated at the request of the Government of Japan, on the
future directions of economic change in East Asia, with emphasis
on how the approaches to development in the region might evolve
in the early 21st century. It seeks to identify the choices
available to East Asian economies as they attempt to resume
and sustain rapid growth in a changing, more competitive,
and more integrated world environment. Commented Former Vice
Minister of Finance for International Affairs Mr. Haruhiko
Kuroda, "While underscoring the continued importance
of sound policies and good institutions, the study coversa
broad agenda that includes regional integration and innovation
essential for East Asian countries to maintain their momentum
of economic growth. I hope that this research will present
a new and insightful perspective on study on the development
of East Asia - a region that has demonstrated unprecedented
economic growth."

According to the research, revival
will depend upon:·retaining the strengths of the past - macroeconomic
and political stability, openness to trade, high savings and
investment rates and human capital development;·overcoming
the weaknesses of the present - financial fragility, corporate
governance, regulatory oversight, legal framework, exchange
rate management, and social protection; and developing/strengthening
innovative capabilities to meet the challenges of the future.
The study discusses the various policy measures needed for
this transformation, and focuses on: economic conditions in
the region; national reforms to overcome existing weaknesses;
cooperation as a means to strengthen the regional economy;
and initiatives needed to foster the capacity for innovation.
The report notes that a number of interrelated developments
at the global and regional levels suggest a future quite different
from the past. Global integration is increasing, facilitated
by freer trade, which is yielding a much more competitive
environment and challenging once protected domestic markets.
At the regional level, the economic performance and relationship
of Japan with neighboring countries, and the Chinese economy's
emergence as a competitor and a promising market are two important
factors shaping the economic landscape. World Bank Economic
Adviser and main author of the report Mr. Shahid Yusuf, added:
"The technological revolution continues apace, and the
organization of production is being transformed by the rise
of foreign direct investment and by the emergence of international
production networks that bring together component suppliers,
assemblers, supply-chain managers, and buyers in dynamic relationships.
East Asia must adapt to these changes - or run the risk of
being left behind."

From World Bank Group, DC, 16 January 2003

China Gets Bigger Online
Despite Censorship

Beijing - The number of Chinese Internet
users surged past 59 million last year and should rise by
tens of millions more this year, the government says. China's
online population grew by 13,3 million people in the six months
ending December 31 to 59,1 million, according to the China
Internet Network Information Centre. It said that gives China
the world's second-biggest population of Internet users, after
the United States. China has aggressively promoted Internet
use for business and education, though it tries to block access
to foreign sites run by news media and human rights groups.
Authorities have imprisoned people who use the Internet to
spread criticism of communist rule or appeal for political
change. CINIC, whose latest survey results were reported on
Thursday by the official Xinhua News Agency, said it expects
China's online population to rise by 46 percent by the end
of this year to 86,3 million. The survey, carried out twice
a year, is the most widely watched set of figures on China's
Internet, though results can differ widely from surveys carried
out by commercial and academic researchers. If the latest
figures are accurate, they suggest that China has passed Japan,
which a United Nations report last year said has 58 million
Internet users. The United States has 140 million users. Web
surfers in China are overwhelmingly young, male and single,
according to CINIC. People aged 18 to 24 are the largest age
group, at 37 percent of the total. Women accounted for 41
percent of Internet users. There are 371 000 websites in China,
as well as 179&nbps;000 websites registered using its
".cn" domain-name suffix, according to CINIC.

From Independent Online, South Africa, 17
January 2003

India's E-Governance
Market Grew 18% in 2002 to US$292.06 MLN

New Delhi - India's e-governance market
grew by 18 per cent last year to Rs 14 billion (US$292.06
million), according to the latest findings of software companies'
association Nasscom. Kiran Karnik, president of Nasscom, said
the market is gaining speed but there are challenges which
are stalling progress. To make e-governance a part of administration,
he said the government must ensure that three per cent of
the budget is committed towards e-governance and rewrite the
tendering and bid evaluation process. "If these recommendations
are implemented, it could save up to Rs 5 billion in the transaction
process costs per year and increase its revenue by Rs 20 billion
through better tax enhancement annually," Karnik said.
The return on investment from all these measures will allow
the government to spend at least Rs 100 billion per year on
e-governance, he said. Speaking on the occasion, R. Chandrasekher,
joint secretary at the department of IT, said the draft e-governance
policy is ready and the final policy could come out anytime
after the initial consultations and interactions with related
people. Giving a phase-bound timeframe, Karnik said during
phase one the National Institute of Smart Governance [NISG]
should be made operational by the end of 2003 and all class
I government officers should be given compulsory IT training.

New Delhi - Emerging sector grew by
18% in 2000-01 to $532 million, or 12% of the total spending
on information technology - Andhra Pradesh and Kerala are
ahead of other Indian states in bringing the benefits of information
technology to the masses through e-governance, a recent study
has shown. And e-governance, which refers to online billing
and record-keeping by local and state authorities, is a growing
business in India. The emerging sector grew by 18 per cent
in 2001-02 over the previous period to 14 billion rupees (S$532
million), according to the study conducted by the National
Association of Software Manufacturers (Nasscom). It made up
12 per cent of the total expenditure on information technology
in 2001-02, with most of the money being spent on hardware
and networking. 'There are seven states with serious interest
in e-governance,' Nasscom chairman Kiran Karnik told journalists
last week.' These include Andhra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh,' he said. To encourage
the growth of e-governance, Nasscom recommended a budgetary
commitment of 3 per cent from state governments while calling
for more involvement by the private sector. It also suggested
greater expenditure on software in the future. Andhra Pradesh's
E-Sewa (e-service) scheme, in which more than two dozen paperwork
procedures are available across single counters, has proved
to be a major success.

And the state capital, Hyderabad, driven
by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu - who is impatient
for progress - hopes to make these largely urban-based service
centres trickle down through the countryside within two years.
Hyderabad is clearly ahead of other state capitals in its
plans for, and implementation of, e-governance. On a visit
to the city some months ago, Microsoft founder Bill Gates
said that of the 14 chief ministers he had met in India, Mr.
Naidu had impressed him the most. 'I am excited to see a lot
of progress and the way India is competing all over the world.
It can make unique contributions in this exciting digital
decade,' he said. 'India is emerging as a leader in e-governance.
It has a special role to play in the digital revolution sweeping
across the globe.' While there is a clear differentiation
between the more competitive, investor-friendly and IT-savvy
states of the south and west, and states in the north, there
are signs of a new beginning in some northern areas of the
country as well. The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
will launch an e-governance 'scheme' this month for registering
births and deaths, which is currently a time- consuming process.
The MCD also plans to put park and community hall bookings
on line, and to expand its services further. 'Once the system
is fully operational, citizens would be able to deposit property
tax, factory and licence dues on the Net as well,' MCD commissioner
Rakesh Mehta told journalists.

From Straits Times, Singapore, by Nirmal
Ghosh, 22 January 2003

Government to Review
Public Sector Delivery System, Says Abdullah

Putrajaya - The Cabinet Committee on
National Competitiveness, which held its first meeting here
Thursday, will review the status of the public sector delivery
system to enhance Malaysia's competitiveness in attracting
domestic investment and foreign direct Investment (FDI). Deputy
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said the committee
recognised the importance of having an efficient public sector
delivery system to attract investments into the country. He
said a review would also be done on matters pertaining to
the competitiveness of the private sector such as longer stay
for expatriates and skilled foreign workers. "We will
decide on appropriate policies, procedures and strategies
to improve the public sector delivery system and introduce
new policies to improve the system," he told reporters
after chairing the meeting, here. Abdullah said the committee
saw a need to streamline the efficiency of the public sector
delivery system, especially in areas related to land procedures
where the approval of land conversion, transfer of land titles
and subdivision of land would be made easier. Abdullah said
that since land matters involved the state governments, the
committee had decided to have special meetings with them to
impress upon them the importance of getting things done and
ensuring that there would be fast track procedures. "Otherwise,
they will not know why there is a need for approval of land
titles or subdivision of lands to be undertaken quickly.

They must be made to understand that
they have something to do to increase the competitiveness,"
he said. He said measures would also be taken to standardise
procedures among the state governments, local authorities
and technical departments of government agencies so that matters
like the issuance and approval of various licences for companies
and approval of Certificate of Fitness (CF) could be done
quickly. The Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management
Planning Unit (Mampu) had been asked to come out with a standardised
procedure and the various government authorities would also
be briefed on the need to speed up the processing of applications.
Abdullah said it was important that the public and the private
sector know what were the important things to be done to enhance
Malaysia's competitiveness in the global economy and as such,
the committee would continue to monitor the implementation
of the proposed policies and strategies. Abdullah said the
private sector expected expatriates to be allowed to work
for a longer period in this country. The International Trade
and Industry Ministry would decide on the appropriateness
of having additional expatriates posts for companies and also
the duration, he said. On foreign skilled workers, Abdullah
said that while importance would be given to trained local
workers, the committee was supportive of the proposal for
longer stay for foreign skilled workers but the matter would
have to be studied deeper.

Abdullah said a study would also to
be undertaken on Research and Development (R&D) incentives
such as additional grants for training and infrastructure
expenditure, which are all important for the country's competitiveness.
He said the committee also agreed to study package incentives,
such as the possibility of lengthening the pioneer status,
and incentives on investment tax allowance. "We have
to fine-tune this before making recommendations to the Cabinet,"
Abdullah said. He was happy to note that at as of December
2002, there were 69 operational headquarters of foreign companies
in Malaysia, 109 international procurement centres, 473 regional
offices of non-financial sector and 872 representative offices
in Malaysia. To a question, Abdullah said the problem of security
relating to the concerns expressed by the private sector was
also discussed at Thursday's meeting and the police had been
asked to address the problems such as cases of highway robbery
of goods and smuggling activities. Abdullah said foreign investors'
main concerns in the country were mainly related to approvals
like those pertaining to land and licences and also for their
personnel to work here.

From Utusan Malaysia Online, Malaysia, 23
January 2003

KPMG e-Government Survey

Our enthusiasm for e-government appears
to be on the rise according to a new survey released by KPMG
Consulting. In a repeat of its February 2001 study, KPMG's
research shows that two-thirds of Brits would now like at
least one local service available for interaction online.
Initially looking at levels of connectedness, the new figures
reveal that half the British population now has access to
the Internet at home or work. This level is up significantly
from the 44% mark of last year. More folk have access at home
than at work still in 2002, with only nearing a quarter of
the population getting online from their workplace. The data
also shows that a further 27% of those without online access
at home or work predict they will be online in three years'
time. Such a shift would bring overall Internet access up
to 63% by 2005. Residents are increasingly looking forward
to a wired local government. When asked about preferences
in their choice of media for dealing with the services in
the near future (3 years time), respondents viewed new media
favourably. The most popular option emerged as being via a
traditional call centre (30%), followed by via the Net (19%),
a local office (15%) and through the Post Office (10%). Respondents'
vision for an electronic future was perhaps clearer when questioned
as to specific activities. When asked which activities they
would be prepared to do electronically, nearly three fifths
(57%) of all adults thought they would choose to carry out
a local government activity electronically. The study also
reveals that just over a third claimed that they would vote
in a local council or general election (38%); apply for/renew
a passport (37%); book an appointment with a GP (37%);get
health information via NHS Direct (37%); renew their car tax
(36%); notify their council of a fault (35%); or renew their
TV licence (34%). Less encouragingly, a third (31%) stated
that they would not expect to interact electronically at all.
The KPMG research was conducted by MORI, interviewing 2,028
adults aged 16+ in their homes during February 21 to 26, 2002.
Comparisons were made with the 2001 KPMG e-Government survey,
conducted by MORI between February 15 and 20, 2001.

From Daily Research News Online, UK, 2 December
2003

Bulgarian Government
Develops e-Government Plan

The Bulgarian government has drafted
a strategy document on the implementation of a 'one-stop-shop'
for citizens to access information on public services and
as a further step forward for the country's participation
in the Interchange of Data between Administrations (IDA) programme
- an initiative of the EU. Ministers feel that the strategy
is one of the most important parts of the government's modernisation
programme, which is to make the government and its various
departments more easily accessible for citizens and businesses.
More than eighty specialists from NGOs, international and
Bulgarian IT companies, the state administration, the media
and the academy helped design the strategy, and its implementation
is to be monitored by an inter-governmental council. The IDA
programme aims to construct a trans-European telecommunications
network between the various European administrations. The
Bulgarian cabinet had jointly signed a memorandum last November
committing it to launching an e-government system by the end
of 2005.

From Europemedia.net, Netherlands, 1 December
2003

Government Launches
Internet Watchdog Campaign

The government has launched a 1 million
Pounds advertising campaign aimed at highlighting the danger
of paedophiles on the internet. The campaign, which aims to
stop paedophiles from contacting children online, will also
try to make parents and youngsters aware of how to surf the
web safely. There will also be a new set of guidelines for
Internet Service Providers (ISP's) with measures including
the provision of clear warning information, and ways for children
to report problems online. Welcoming the broadcasting of the
new campaign in Northern Ireland, SDLP assembly member Patricia
Lewsley said: "This campaign is a welcome move in raising
awareness of the dangers of allowing children to use online
chatrooms without supervision. Parents do not let their children
speak or meet with strangers face to face but they also need
to be as vigilant in terms of internet safety." Hopefully
these advertisements will give parents some helpful hints
on how to ensure that their children can safely benefit from
the internet as a learning communications resource. "Children
also need to be educated on internet safety measures such
as never disclosing their phone number or address online and
bringing an adult if they are meeting someone they have met
through a chatroom." According to research published
last year, around five million youngsters under 16 are estimated
to have private access to the internet, and nearly half of
16-year-olds use chatrooms. The 1 million Pounds television,
radio and website campaign is being broadcast throughout January.

From North-Ireland, UK, 6 January 2003

Belarus e-Government
Portal To Be Launched

President Lukashenko of Belarus has
signed a decree on the creation of a "national legal
internet portal". According to the decree, the portal
is to become the main governmental e-resource on legislation
and the government's "Information Programme". The
portal will be created under the authority of the National
Centre for Legal Information of the Republic of Belarus. The
portal is aimed at providing citizens with information about
legislation and to improve governmental judicial activities.
It is hoped that the creation of the national legal internet
portal will raise the country's international standing, and
will also attract more investment to Belarus.

From Europemedia.net, Netherlands, 7 January
2003

Government Approves
BBC Digital Curriculum

The BBC gets the go-ahead to produce
its digital curriculum, subject to a wide range of conditions.
Will rivals respond with legal action? The BBC's controversial
digital learning plans have finally been approved by the UK
government - a move that is certain to enrage some commercial
content producers. Culture secretary Tessa Jowell announced
on Thursday that the BBC would be allowed to go ahead with
BBC Digital Curriculum, its £150m scheme to produce online
educational material for a wide range of subjects. However,
the BBC will be subject to 18 conditions, which the government
claims will ensure that its offering is distinct and complementary
to online educational content produced by the private sector.
The Digital Curriculum has been fiercely fought by a number
of small companies that already offer educational material
on the Internet, who fear they will be driven out of business
as a result. "I've listened to the concerns of commercial
providers of digital learning resources about the impact Digital
Curriculum will have on the market. The industry is a rapidly
expanding one. There is room for everyone," said Jowell
in a statement announcing the decision. "These conditions
will prevent the BBC from dominating this market but it's
right that it should play an important role in a competitive
and growing market for digital learning resources," she
added.

These conditions include obligations
on the BBC to "innovate continually" and make use
of its archive of existing content, and to work closely with
the Department of Education and Science's online content advisory
board. In addition, the BBC will have to give unlimited access
to third parties who wish to produce companion guides for
its online content. All advertising promoting the Digital
Curriculum will also have clearly refer to Curriculum Online
- the government's own Internet-based curriculum for schools
- and to other sources of online educational content associated
with it. The BBC will also have to produce annual plans for
the Digital Curriculum scheme as well as an annual report
on its performance -- which will be conducted by the BBC governors.
The service will be reviewed after two years, to ensure it
is keeping to the conditions laid down by the government.
A report in The Guardian this week claimed that companies
such as Channel 4, Pearson and Granada were likely to seek
a judicial review of the BBC's charter if the Digital Curriculum
was approved by the government.

From ZDNet.co.uk, UK, by Graeme Wearden,
9 January 2003

Civil Servants Told
to Stop e-Procurement

Other departments must 'hang fire'
until OGC finishes its own project - Government departments
have been asked to put any e-procurement projects on hold
until the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has completed
the implementation of its own system. OGC spokesman Martin
Day told vnunet.com that all government departments had been
asked to "hang fire" on e-procurement developments
until the OGC had finalised its plans. The OGC has invited
tenders to supply it with an e-procurement system covering
its £40m annual spending, which Day said would be used to
help evaluate which available systems would be suitable for
a wider roll out. The variation in the sophistication of procurement
systems used across government departments makes it harder
to share information about good and bad suppliers, according
to Day. "The ultimate aim is to have a system that, with
a little development, can be used by all departments, enabling
them to share information for the first time," he said.
"Our own project will give us the chance to evaluate
what is out there." Tenders for the OGC system must be
submitted by 20 January. The project, which will see the system
introduced for 390 staff across five sites, is due to be completed
by the end of June.

From VNUNet, UK, by Gareth Morgan, 10 January
2003

E-Government Europe
Summit

The second annual e-government Europe
summit will take place in Noordwijk aan See in the Netherlands
from 3 to 5 March. The event is aimed at representatives from
European, national, regional or local government with responsibility
for e-government planning and services. It intends to bring
together decision makers from across Europe to explore strategies
and technologies for the next generation of online government
services. Top management figures from a cross section of government
bodies will offer insights into implementing e-government
programmes. Key issues to be examined during the conference
include: - successful knowledge management; - moving from
technology-led to citizen-led; - overcoming the challenge
of interoperability; - knowledge management; - improving communication
and efficiency. Activities at the summit will take the form
of keynote presentations, discussion groups and workshops,
which will address specialist subject areas and set objectives
for participants. For further information, please consult
the following web address: http://www.egovernmenteurope.com/html/event.htm

From Cordis News, EU, 15 January 2003

M-Government: More
Than a Mobilised Government

Despite its infancy, mobile government
(m-government) is a growing and important set of complex strategies
and tools that will change completely the roles and functioning
of traditional governance. In advocating the existence and
importance of mobile government, there are two basic facts
to be considered: * There are more people who do not have
access to PCs than there are people who do not have a cell
phone or other wireless device, which will make government
and services available more to mobile customers as a group
than to PC users, even as m-government is considered a subset
of e-government. * Computers generally do not travel with
citizens, but information and public services can: m-government
provides for instant availability of services and information,
helping frequent travellers and people on the move to access
government. When travelling overseas, citizens will not have
to rely on unsafe internet cafes, as mobile coverage exists
in vast majority of countries globally. Mobile government
also means that a citizen does not have to go and search for
kiosks, or even get a connection to the house. People now
carry a mobile government access terminal with them wherever
they go. Mobile Service Delivery The basic condition for mobile
government to operate is the existence of regulated mobile
operators. In this first phase, governments (either as enablers
or as inhibitors) not only regulate mobile markets but also
assess the affordability of m-government information and services,
as well as, over the long-term, develop perspectives on core
values and principles, on the basis of which m-governments
will operate. M-government vs. e-government: the distinctions
Mobile Government does not mean only taking current (e-)government
services and delivering them via mobiles, although, on the
other hand, no one should understand m-government as an omnipresent
solution to every need and want of public administration.

Some aspects of governmental activities
should be solved only by e-government, e.g., infrastructure
for inter-departmental e-communication and faster information
flow (physical infrastructure for data transfers) - a primary
target for e-government, which is hard to substitute by m-government.
Sometimes it is difficult to distinguish between e-government
and m-government provisions: a typical example is that of
wireless connection within governmental buildings, where civil
servants can have data always accessible, no matter what office
they are in, with only their mobile devices - either PDAs
or notebooks. As the case concerns immobile property and only
wireless access to data, I tend to favour e-government. However,
a different situation would be the use of PDAs for remote
inspection purposes, where a civil servant carries not only
the device itself, but also all the necessary data. From a
citizen perspective, mobile government stands for new front-end
access to public services that have been made available specifically
for mobile devices or adapted from existing e-government applications.
Uniform access to all governmental applications through a
single gateway (a central public administration portal) is
often-debated strategy of e-government on global scale. Through
a single electronic form or transaction, citizens are able
to solve issues that generally involve more departments or
public administration bodies. However, it is very important
to distinguish between information to be shared with anyone,
and transactions of confidential nature. The implementation
of seamless and horizontal borderless government solutions
would definitely bring more added value to public services,
but with rising concerns over privacy - especially if we come
back to mobile phones, and therefore to m-government - we
will have to face a major issue: citizens will demand that
information travelling across different state/federal departments
is compartmentalised, so that every institution or department
gets only the piece it is entitled to get.

This necessitates a complex integration
and allocation matrix or scheme with separated needs and wants,
and related personal/institutional representatives. In a short
time, the majority of mobile devices will get the functionalities
of personal computers and personal privacy will be of the
highest priority to every individual. From a global technical
perspective, what needs to be most fully harmonised is an
interconnection between different mobile technology standards,
so that mobile government can be easily accessible anywhere
on the planet. Measuring the success of m-government In order
to reach mass adoption of m-government, leading to closer
and more intimate communication with citizens, it is recommended
to focus on technologies that have emerged that have become
widespread and accepted. Only success stories and measurable
results justify extra spending for progressive projects and
continuous technology upgrades. Think big, start small. Governments
need to prepare a complex strategy with justified individual
steps and programmes; ad-hoc planning works only in the very
short term. Return-on-investment models and cost/benefit analyses
should not be filled simply with financial data. To save money
and be more efficient in internal administration are partial
objectives for governments, whose core business is actually
to serve citizens: the financial benefit of better services
that are more accessible to citizens is hard to calculate,
but leads to indirect gains, e.g., in a higher appreciation
of tax-collection, because citizens who are in close and intimate
contact with their governments realise the importance of mutual
benefits and obligations. On the other hand, the existence
of m-government and its applications does not on its own guarantee
results. Despite the global character of mobile technologies,
a nation's and its citizens´ needs and wants differ significantly,
which leads to final recommendation of this part: governments
should proactively consult with the public and take their
opinions into account over implementation of m-government
strategies.

From Europemedia.net, Netherlands, 16 January
2003

IT Governance Set High
on Agenda

IT governance is set to be one of the
key issues on the IT agenda in the coming year. The collapse
of Enron and WorldCom, as well as the regulatory force of
the stock exchange's Turnbull report, have made companies
more aware of the need for comprehensive corporate controls,
which must include IT controls. "Because of the critical
dependence on IT of most companies, we cannot have corporate
governance ignoring IT," said former IT director of Blue
Circle Industries, Roger Ellis, whose forthcoming conference,
IT Governance for IT Leaders, outlines the task ahead for
IT directors. But IT directors, with IT budgets currently
under siege, may not be giving sufficient priority to IT governance.
"IT directors have so much pressure on them, governance
is not a burning issue unless it is a corporate burning issue,"
said Ellis. "It is the board which is driving governance."
IT Governance for IT Leaders, supported by Computer Weekly,
takes place on 29 January at the Royal Society, London. Tel:
01494-837857.

From CW360.com, UK, 16 January 2003

Government Wants e-Services
Take-up Boost

Awareness of online government services
remains low - The government is pinning its hopes on a new
initiative this Spring to drive take-up of public services,
because efforts so far have failed to boost numbers. The Office
of the e-Envoy admitted that as far fewer people than expected
have used online government services, the next round of its
emphasis will be to dramatically improve use. "The e-Envoy
Office is planning a major campaign in the spring to get people
online. "The 'Online Nation' campaign will encourage
people to try online services and, if they already have, inform
them about the wide range of things they can do online,"
said a spokeswoman. Two-thirds of government services available
online are information-based, but between now and 2005 there
will be more transaction-based services appearing, which should
increase use, according to the government. A recent survey
of 1,000 UK citizens found that only seven per cent of people
had contacted their local authority online over the last year.
Mark Westaby, director at Portfolio Communications which commissioned
the survey, said a lack of understanding of the benefits of
using the web to find information, pay bills and deal with
local authorities could hold back e-government. "The
government has a big job to do in education, or the adoption
of online services could take decades rather than a few years,"
he said. "If the government is investing £350m to put
e-government in place it should put some money into informing
people," he said.

From VNUNet, UK, 17 January 2003

Doubts Cast Over e-Government
Take-up

A new study has suggested that the
public are not likely to adopt e-government services en masse
until at least 2013, casting some doubt over the government's
self-imposed deadline of having all public services online
by 2005. The research, conducted by Portfolio Communications,
found that only 7% of the 1,000 respondents had attempted
to access government information or contact their local council
via the internet during 2002, and suggests that there is likely
to be no significant change anytime soon. However, net-savvy
youngsters have indicated that they want to use the internet
to access government services. Four out of ten 18 to 34 year
olds said they would prefer to use the web as a means of using
public services, making them twice as likely to use e-government
sites as 35 to 54 years olds. Just one in ten over-55s expressed
an interest to use the internet in this manner. Portfolio
concludes that the younger generation needs to get older before
significant take-up of e-government services will occur.

From NetImperative, UK, by Chris Lake, 7
January 2003

Government Shelves
Strategic Partnership Idea for Development of e-Government
Services

Valletta - It will instead enter into
specific alliances with different companies for different
projects - Government has shelved the idea of searching a
single strategic partner for setting up e-Government services
and will instead enter into specific alliances with different
companies for different projects, it was announced on Friday.
In 2001, the Maltese Government issued an international request
for proposals for the establishment of a strategic partnership
for a period of not less than seven years for the design,
development, implementation and potential operation of e-Government
services. Following an extensive evaluation process, the Government,
following the recommendation of the adjudication team, in
January 2002 chose the Compaq-led consortium to as the preferred
consortium for the strategic partnership. Negotiations commenced
in March 2002 with the Compaq consortium, which became the
HP (Hewlett Packard) consortium in May 2002 following the
Compaq merger with HP, and were concluded in October. "Following
consideration of the recommendations of the negotiation team,
the Government has now concluded that it will not continue
with it efforts to establish a strategic partnership with
the HP-led consortium or with any other third party",
the Government statement said. It explained that conclusion
reached by Government was not a reflection on the role played
by the HP-led consortium throughout the negotiation process,
with the consortium showing "a genuine commitment to
participate in this partnership and to bring value to Malta
through its participation".

"To the contrary, the rationale
underpinning this decision was based primarily on the rapid
technological advancements in the field of e-Government and
of the positioning of the ICT industry itself." "Instead
of entering into one single holistic partnership, the Government
decided that it is much more advantageous to adopt a vertical
approach and enter into 'best of breed' partnerships and 'twinning
alliances' with major international firms on specific e-Government
related initiatives." "These partnerships will be
explored and entered into with the primary aims to gain access
to cutting-edge e-Government technology, proliferate the information
society in Malta and overall to strengthen the indigenous
ICT industry", the statement added. The Maltese Government,
it said, also believes that the recently adopted outsourcing
policy in the e-Government programme was a great success and
the local ICT (Information and Communication Technology) private
sector proved that it can meet even the most stringent ICT
development quality standards. In this respect, Government
will be accelerating its outsourcing efforts with a view to
engender further the local private sector in sync with the
objective of establishing Malta as a regional ICT centre of
excellence, the statement said. "Government will be striving
to attain vertical partnerships of excellence with major multinational
ICT players such as HP itself whilst ensuring that the local
ICT industry is an active player in the path towards the attainment
of a first class e-Government model in Malta", it concluded.

From di-ve.com, Malta, by Charlot Zahra
(c_zahra@di-ve.com), 18 January 2003

E-government Needs
Tech-Literate Generation

Younger people are much keener to access
government services online, so e-government success may not
come in the short term, says new report - Public take-up of
local government online services will remain low for at least
the next 10 years, according to a new report. The research,
commissioned by marketing communication consultancy Portfolio
Communications, found that just 7 percent of adults have contacted
their local council online in the past year and that the figure
is unlikely to increase significantly until today's tech-literate
younger generation grows up. The study, based on interviews
with 1,000 adults representative of the entire UK population,
revealed that over 40 percent of 18 to 34 year-olds would
prefer to use the Web to access information from local government,
compared to around 20 percent of 35 to 54 year-olds and just
10 percent of the over-55s. The research concludes that the
government could easily find itself having to justify large
investments without any evidence of mass support for e-services
in the short to medium-term. In addition, considerable education
will have to be carried out by local authorities to encourage
take-up of e-government by their communities, particularly
among older generations.

The government itself admitted last
November that public usage of the services currently available
online is low, and aims to add take-up targets to its oft-quoted
aim of getting all public services online by 2005. Mark Westaby,
director of Portfolio, said: "Fast pay-back is a key
driver of public sector services, but this research suggests
that the trend towards use of online local government services
is unlikely to increase dramatically until today's younger
generation gets significantly older. Clearly, this is not
going to happen for some considerable time, possibly a decade
or longer. As a result it will be vital for government not
only to ensure that online services are available, but also
that local communities are educated about the benefits of
using them and are fully incentivised to do so." The
Portfolio study revealed that the telephone currently dominates
as the main method for contacting local councils, regardless
of age, sex, region or social status, the only exception to
these trends being the use of direct debit to pay council
bills. This suggests that local and central government should
embrace the concept of contact centres and other telephony-based
services to meet the clear demand for use of the telephone
across all ages, regions and demographics, according to the
report - The research was carried out by ICM during November,
2002.

From ZDNet.co.uk, UK, Graham Hayday, 17
January 2003

Irish e-Government
Faces Content Deficit

A report on the state of e-government
in Ireland has concluded that public bodies suffer from a
lack of direction and staff when it comes to their Web presence.
IQ Content, the company that authored the study, said that
many of Ireland's e-government initiatives faced significant
implementation issues, most of which relate to content on
government Web sites. Within the IQ Content survey, about
75 percent of the responding public sector agencies said they
are experiencing difficulties implementing their e-government
strategies. About 40 percent of respondents said that a lack
of strategic vision was their biggest problem, while about
20 percent said they lacked the necessary human resources.
"The technology is there -- the government has spent
a lot of money putting the technology in place to make e-government
services work," said Morgan McKeagney, managing director
of IQ Content. "This is a human issue." McKeagney
said that many government departments do not have the processes
and structures in place to keep Web sites up-to-date, and
mangers within those departments seemed to have little understanding
of how much time is required for workers to maintain Web sites.
"The government is good at putting simple things like
press releases up, but most departments have difficulty with
anything more," said McKeagney. "They [government
agencies] are producing a lot of material in terms of reports
and briefings, but there seems no processes to make this material
available on-line," he said. "They lack a strategic
vision in terms of content. They need to ask themselves what
they want to do, what it will take to do it."

According to McKeagney, many of the
government departments would be able to overcome their on-line
content problems with enhanced processes, but more staff will
eventually be required despite the hiring freeze currently
in place. Indeed, IQ Content's report said that 75 percent
of public sector Web sites are managed by just one person,
and in most cases this person spends less than half their
time on Web-related activities. In addition, despite the massive
amount of material created by the various government agencies,
the creation of content that is easily consumable by the public
remains a problem. According to the report, content creation,
content management and accessibility are all problematic,
with 95 percent of respondents citing difficulties creating
and managing Web site content as a problem, and 85 percent
admitting accessibility is an issue for end-users. Despite
these criticisms, the report looked favourably on e-government
in Ireland in general, citing the many successful technological
implementations, such as the Revenue Online service, OASIS,
BASIS, Reach and the eCourts and eTenders systems. The IQ
Content survey said that 75 percent of respondents have a
clear idea of what e-government is about and its implications
for their organisation. Moreover, 65 percent of organisations
consider their e-government implementations to be either on
or ahead of schedule.

From Electric News Net, by Matthew Clark,
20 January 2003

Global
e-Government

The adoption of e-government in the
UK is not likely to take off for at least ten years - The
majority of politicians in Germany have an on-line presence
- The adoption of e-government services by the UK public is
not likely to take off for at least another ten years, according
to a new study by Portfolio Communications. A study of 1,000
adults found that a mere 7 percent had accessed local government
services on-line in the past year, and Portfolio concludes
that the figure is unlikely to increase dramatically until
the younger generation gets substantially older. According
to the research, only 10 percent of people over the age of
55 would prefer to access information from local councils
via the Internet, compared to around 20 percent of 35- to
54-year-olds and over 40 percent of 18- to 34-year-olds. The
most popular means of communicating with local government
is currently by telephone, the study says. The NHS network
is to undergo a STG45 million upgrade that will bring broadband
to all hospitals, GPs and NHS trusts in the UK. The upgrades,
to be completed by BT and Cable and Wireless by March 2004,
will give every GP at least a 256 Kbps fixed-line connection,
while Primary Care Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities
will get 2 Mbps connections. Among the benefits expected from
the upgrade, which will be funded by the NHS Information Authority,
are the electronic transfer of prescriptions between GPs,
hospitals and pharmacists; shared access to electronic patient
records; digital imaging; and distance learning.

The vast majority of politicians in
Germany have an on-line presence, according to Europemedia.net,
citing research carried out by political analysts Politikerscreen.
Topping the poll for the best Web site was Rolf Schwanitz,
SPD Member of Parliament for Vogtland/Sachsen, while Chancellor
Gerhard Schroeder ranked 323rd out of 603 for a site lacking
in content. Indeed, many of the sites were found to be outdated.
Among the various states, 100 percent of parliamentarians
in Berlin, Brandenburg and Thuringia have an on-line presence,
while 78 percent of Bavarian politicians have an active presence
on the Internet. The government of Serbia is attempting to
bring its courts system on-line, reports KableNET.com. The
Belgrade administration is planning to introduce a new IT
system in its commercial courts by February 2003, aimed at
increasing efficiency in the legal system, improving officials'
access to legal information and reducing fraud. The new system,
which will be linked to the administration's central infrastructure
through a joint computer network, is part of Serbia's wider
e-government mission to modernise the administration and implement
Internet technology. Malaysia has issued a statement calling
for all 35,000 government suppliers to use its "ePerolehan"
e-procurement system from now on. The system, when fully functional,
will enable suppliers to the government to give quotations,
obtain tender documents and submit bids on-line. The Ministry
of Finance said suppliers risked losing out on government-related
business opportunities if they did not start using the system,
which was launched last year.

In fact, nearly all suppliers to the
government have registered with ePerolehan, but fewer than
18,000 electronic catalogue items have been uploaded to the
system. The Internal Revenue Service in the US has launched
an initiative that allows eligible taxpayers to file their
tax returns on-line for free. The Free File program, available
on the Web site of the IRS, provides free access to tax preparation
software from 17 companies. Last year, about 35 percent of
tax returns were filed electronically, and the IRS is hoping
to increase this figure to 80 percent by 2007. The IRS says
that at least 60 percent of taxpayers, around 78 million people,
should be eligible for a free e-filing service this year.
"We're opening up a whole new world of convenience to
millions of taxpayers who have told us 'we would like to e-file,
but we can't afford to,'" said Robert Wenzel, acting
IRS commissioner, at the launch of the initiative. Also in
the US, 16 scholars have been awarded grants of USD15,000
each to research and report on issues that could improve e-government
or performance management in the public sector. The recipients
of the grants, which were allocated by the IBM Endowment for
the Business of Government fund, must submit a research report
on their selected topics within six months, for publication
and distribution by IBM. Among the winning research topics
were "E-Government in Rural Communities", "Advancing
m-Government for State Emergency Management" and "Developing
Integrative Technologies to Support E-Government".

From Electric News Net, by Sylvia Leatham,
22 January 2003

Public Registry Certificates
Now Available Online

E-shore delivers first e-government
service developed by private company - Minister for Home Affairs
and Environment Dr. Tonio Borg on Thursday launched an online
application which will allow the public to order Public Registry
Certificates over the Internet. The service which is available
at certifikati.gov.mt is another in a series of government
services which have become accessible online over the last
months. Speaking at the launch Minister Borg noted that the
request for certificates continues to grow every year and
is now above 100,000. The possibility of ordering these certificates
online is an important step in making this process more efficient,
he stated. Minister for Justice and Local Government, Dr.
Austin Gatt, responsible for the e-government initiative,
also addressed the press and pointed out that this was one
of the most important e-government applications to go online.
He stated that the service should not only prove popular with
the Maltese living in Malta but also with many emigrants outside
of Malta who now have a simple way of ordering certificates.
He also noted that this was the first e-government service
which was developed by a private company and that although
it was a complex application was developed in a very short
period. "This is in line with Government's declared policy
of working closely with the local ICT sector in order to make
Malta a center of excellence for ICT" he concluded. The
application was developed by e-shore, one of the leading Internet
development companies in Malta, and recent winner of the 2002
Web Awards with the Airmalta web site. E-shore CEO Keith Fearne
commented that "e-shore is proud to have delivered the
first e-government service application developed by private
enterprise". The solution was developed with very tight
deadlines and to tough guidelines. Since it was the first
time this has happened it was a bit of a learning experience
for everyone, but the full co-operation of the respective
departments, the Ministry of Justice and Local Government
and MITTS ensured that this project was completed on time
and to spec. We also are proud to have proved that the local
IT sector can deliver if asked to and hope that more projects
will be entrusted to the local industry so that we can continue
to grow our expertise."

From di-ve.com, Malta, 24 January 2003

E-Government Strategies High on
Agenda at ITP Road Show

Dubai - ITP Events are kicking off
2003 with the E-Government Roadshow. Sponsored by Intel and
Microsoft, the roadshow will be staged in Dubai, Riyadh and
Amman, responding to the clear need for the Public Sector
in the Region to have the necessary discussion environment
to assess their future E-Government strategies and to keep
abreast of the latest technology advances. The Road Show in
each of the host cities, Dubai, Riyadh and Jordan has been
endorsed by business leaders and international experts and
will provide a platform for pro-active debate and interaction
between government representatives, domestic and multinational
businesses and e-commerce leaders locally and globally. "We
are delighted with the quality of speakers" Said Michael
Crawley, Manager, ITP Events. His Excellency Fawaz H. Zu'bi
will be addressing the delegates in Jordan, while Salem Al
Shair, Dr. Saeed Al Dhaheri and John E. Davies, Intel VP,
Sales and Marketing Group will be speaking at the Dubai, and
Riyadh events respectively." The Half-day programme will
provide an invaluable mix of education on all relevant disciplines,
with a key focus on strategies & case studies. Microsoft
and HP are just some of the top international experts featured
who will be travelling with the Road Show, assisting delegates
to evaluate their technology needs and illustrate how to acquire
the skills to construct an effective infrastructure. Delegates
will also have the opportunity to discuss their experiences
and requirements by taking advantage of these specialist advisors
who will be on-hand to problem solve specific issues within
all governmental departments. The sessions will highlight
the vast range of products and services on offer from the
world's leading vendors and consultants. "We have found
that strategies and rationale discussed at these Road Shows
are further enhanced by the panel discussion in the form of
a Q&A session" continued Crawley. "Many subjects
come up that the delegates wish to further their understanding
of, and sometimes challenge. These Q and As are facilitated
by David Cass, Editor at large for ITP and former BBC anchorman.
The Q and As are integral to the Road Show, and help to underline
the tremendous learning experience that these events bring
to these regions." The E-Govt. Roadshow will be in Dubai
on February 22nd February at the Fairmont Hotel, In Riyadh
on 24th February at the Riyadh Sheraton hotel and Amman on
26th February at the Amman Sheraton.

From AME Info, United Arab Emirates, 14
January 2003

BB Initiates e-Government
Applications with KU Tuition Fees Payment

Kuwait City - Adding a new achievement
to its recent e-banking spurs, BB runs first to introduce
to KU students community online payment of tuition fees. This
new service provided by BB through its payment gate BeeClear
to its clientele of KU students allows customers to pay the
registration fees from any place in the world any time 7/24,
by simply signing on KU's www.studentonline.com. The new service
involves many features. Conveniently available, it allows
students to save time and effort, especially that most of
them happen to be outside Kuwait at this time of the year.
Furthermore and knowing that there are 18-20 thousand students
registered with 13 colleges, the service will help ease the
pressure on the university administration and the students.
KU Students who are Non-BB Customers - KU students who are
not customers of BB can avail of the service by simply opening
an account with the bank, making them readily able to use
the service as well as other banking and non-banking services
available on BB website www.beeebank.com. Through an account
opened with BB, students will have access to other university-related
services. Fee payment service is only a starting point of
many future services that can be accomplished via this facility.
A Safe and Secure Environment - An executive officer of EXETER
GROUP (undertaking KU's electronic project) once stated that
BB stands as one of the most successful Arab banks in the
information technology and electronic banking, providing through
its payment gate BeeClear, a safe and secure environment to
its customers to perform various online payment transactions.

This pioneer project, involving EXETER,
BB and KU, EXETER GROUP was also quoted as saying, is a vivid
exemplary implementation of the e-government. This is particularly
true given the fact that KU is regarded as a good performer
in this area and a winner of the Electronic Excellence Award
from the e-Government Conference- 2002. The company stated
that KU and BB, in association with the EXETER GROUP acting
as consultant, provide for the first time at the Arab university
level the Online Real Time service, which means that withdrawal
from an account and depositing with another occurs instantly.
The E-Government - This step, on the other hand, highlights
BB's readiness to be the payment gate for the various government
entities, which will inevitably require this type of gates
featuring the highest standards of security and safety of
data. These are truly the features of Burgan Bank BeeClear.
This step also signifies the importance of the electronic
banking services, which can help ease burdens on the government
departments particularly at seasons such as the students rush
for registration for the various courses, and paying late
registration fees.

BB's Services at KU - BB enjoys a very
close relationship with KU. This distinguished association
was further consolidated with BB being awarded the KU tender,
since it is the only bank in Kuwait providing such a unique
service, represented in the mobile service through its well-equipped
trucks serving as a moving bank where all forms of ATM services
are available to individuals. Through its "B Everywhere"
service, BB provides all banking services students need on
the campus. The bank's trucks drive in the university campus
according to a pre-set schedule in agreement with the KU.
The schedule, which will be operative within days, considers
the most suitable times for the students as well as the geographic
dimension, as to ensure full coverage of the various faculties
at Shauwaikh, Khaldieya, Adiliya, Hawali and other areas.
While the university will be open most of the year, the service
will be available during the fall, spring and summer period,
to ensure that uninterrupted service is provided to students
whom BB seek to attract as prospectus customers particularly
after graduation. Service with Excellence - "B Everywhere"
is a unique service of BB nation-wide. It is also the first
of its kind at the Middle East region, representing a qualitative
spur in the way customers can be approached reaching them
anywhere anytime. "B Everywhere" services include
cash withdrawal, transfer between accounts, US$ withdrawal,
utilities bill payment in addition to K-net and GCCNET.

From AME Info, United Arab Emirates, 23
January 2003

Jump Start Your E-Government Plans

The U.S. Small Business Administration
has launched its SBAExchange Pilot Program - an electronic
purchasing tool designed to facilitate small business e-procurement
opportunities and improve the efficiency and accountability
of current government procurement processes. The mission of
the SBAExchange is two-fold; to reduce costs and improve efficiency
and accountability of procuring goods and services by federal
agencies from small businesses, and to help small businesses
participate in an e-procurement system that requires little
or no technical expertise or equipment investment. The SBAExchange
is an online tool that allows agencies to award simplified
acquisitions up to $100,000 (including micro-purchases) to
small businesses. Purchases and payments are made electronically
with government-wide commercial purchase cards. Government
agencies will be able to use SBAExchange to award purchases
over $25,000 that have been posted in Federal Business Opportunities
(FedBizOpps), provided the notice states that the award will
be made electronically. The program is designed to help small
businesses compete for purchases that are currently being
obtained through other contracting methods. To participate,
small businesses must obtain an Internet-based Supplier Web
Site from the SBAExchange. Through the Supplier Web Site a
small business receive: · A fully hosted, supplier branded,
e-commerce website; · Exposure to federal buying authorities,
large federal prime contractors and other large buying officials;
· An electronic catalog; · A centralized order management
system for receiving and processing Internet- based orders
from federal, state, local and commercial buying authorities;
· A management system for tracking new business, creating
and submitting quotes and; · Assistance in managing the new
site. SBA plans to kick-off this pilot program nationally
on March 30, 2003 when agencies can begin awarding transactions
through the system. In order to ensure a successful launch
in March, the small business electronic catalog development
period began on October 30, 2002. The U.S. SBA entered into
a contract with NEXGEN Solutions, Inc. build the national
e-procurement system so that small businesses can participate
in conducting e-business transactions with a relatively low
cost of entry and little or no technical expertise. The annual
cost to participate in the SBAExchange Pilot Program is $1,500.
Additionally, a transaction fee of two percent will be added
to all orders.

From InternetNews.com, by Patricia Fusco,
3 January 2003

Arizona Among Top e-Government
States

Washington is the top state when it
comes to using digital technology to improve the function
of state government. But, according to The Digital State Survey,
Arizona is not too far behind. The survey, conducted by the
Center for Digital Government and The Progress & Freedom
Foundation, gave second- through fifth-place rankings to Kansas,
Wisconsin, Arizona and Maryland. The survey began in 1997,
when only six states provided Internet access to at least
half its workers. In 2002, three-fourths of the states did
so. For more information on the Center for Digital Government,
visit its Web site at http://www.centerdigitalgov.com.

From Phoenix Business Journal, AZ, 6 January
2003

Hispanic Firm Announces
e-Government Procurement Services

Dulles - Technica Corporation, a network
systems integration firm, introduced SolantisGX, a Web-based
procurement source, servicing the growing IT requirements
of the federal government. SolantisGX will initially offer
higher-end products generally harder to procure than those
offered by traditional government web services focusing on
computer workstations, desktop software and peripherals. Product
categories include high-end optical and gigabit ethernet switches,
anti-theft, encryption, authentication, virtual private networking,
and firewall equipment. In 2003, Technica plans on adding
thousands of additional products from dozens of first and
second-tier product manufacturers. The Web service features
the largest government-wide acquisition contract (GWAC) available
to federal agencies today. Known as SEWP III, this contract
has a 10-year record of success and now one of the most popular
of government contracts in existence today. In the past year,
SEWP III has supplied over $1B in orders to federal agencies,
predominantly defense and homeland security related, to locations
worldwide. Technica Corporation was awarded a five-year SEWP
III contract on September 30, 2002. Technica Corporation was
co-founded by President and CEO, Miguel Collado. Company revenue
is expected to exceed $40M in 2003. Mr. Collado is a Hispanic-American
who served on the U.S. Navy's USS Nimitz.

From HispanicBusiness.com, 8 January 2003

City Of London Expands
e-Government Initiatives With Cognos

Ottawa - Facing down a backlog of reporting
requests, the City of London, Ontario needed an IT solution
that would unite disparate data sources from across all City
departments and provide users with a self-service environment
for reporting and analysis. With Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN; TSX:
CSN) the world leader in business intelligence (BI), the City
has enabled employees to gain detailed insight into finance,
human resources, police services, and other city services
like social services and welfare. "With Cognos, we are
seeing an accurate and complete view across all departments.
The ability to spot trends and inconsistencies in data has
resulted in significant time and cost savings for the City
and has greatly improved our ability to forecast budget and
allocate resources," said Brian Whitelaw, systems administrator,
City of London. "The City of London has an established
reputation among Canadian municipalities as being a leader
in IT innovation and with Cognos we continue to expand and
invest in our e- government initiatives." The City is
currently working on implementing Cognos BI in the police
services division. Through analysis of dispatch, trial, incarceration,
and parole data the City will be able to determine how police
services can be improved and if appropriate resources are
being assigned to each case. "Cognos delivers a single,
end-to-end business intelligence framework that meets the
diverse needs of customers across the public sector, with
the security governments require to protect sensitive data,"
said Dave Laverty, senior vice president, global marketing,
Cognos. "The City of London is one of a number of Cognos'
public sector customers engaged in innovative ways to improve
the speed and quality of service to the public."

About the City of London: The City
of London is located in the heart of South West Ontario, conveniently
equidistant from Toronto and Detroit. It has a population
of over 330,000, and has many diverse businesses such as Finance,
Automotive and Medical. It is also the home of the University
of Western Ontario, one of the top universities in the Province.
London is an ideal place to live, with an excellent economy
and a high standard of living. About Cognos: Cognos delivers
software that helps companies improve business performance
by enabling effective decision-making at all levels of the
organization. A forerunner in defining the BI software category,
Cognos delivers the next level of competitive advantage -
Corporate Performance Management (CPM) - achieved through
the strategic application of BI on an enterprise scale. CPM
lets organizations measure execution against business strategy
to ensure the two are aligned at all levels across the enterprise.
Cognos provides a framework for CPM that links people, information,
and decision- making processes throughout the organization,
and enables the complete management cycle with integrated
software for planning, budgeting, reporting, analysis, and
scorecarding. Cognos serves more than 20,000 customers in
over 135 countries. Cognos enterprise business intelligence
solutions and services are also available from more than 3,000
worldwide partners and resellers. For more information, visit
the Cognos Web site at http://www.cognos.com.

From CanadaIT.com, Canada, 8 January 2003

More People Can Now
File Taxes Online

While tax day may seem a long way off,
now is the time to think about how you will file. Thursday,
the federal government unveiled a new way for you to get free
help in figuring your tax return, plus a way to file it. A
web site at irs.gov will direct you to private companies that
will do your taxes for you online and send the forms in to
the IRS for free. "Once you experience the ease and benefits
of e-file, I personally guarantee you that you will never
go back to the old way of filing your taxes," said IRS
commissioner Robert Wenzel. The government estimates as many
as 78 million Americans would benefit from the service. That's
more than half of all filers. Much of the online service is
targeted to those who have simple returns, making less than
$28,000 a year. But the idea is to bring some order to the
explosion of online services offering to do your taxes for
a fee. "It's a burden enough to pay taxes, without making
it a complex as we do and require people to pay for the privilege,
if you want to call it that," said Mitch Daniels of the
Office of Management and Budget. If you are worried about
putting so much personal information online, the government
says you shouldn't. The IRS says it is putting strict requirements
in place, to make sure taxpayer privacy is protected. Last
year one third of all taxpayers filed electronically.

From Ohio News Network, OH, by Tom Walker,
17 January 2003

SRA Supporting a Navy
e-Gov Program

The Navy's Military Sealift Command
(MSC) announced Jan. 21 that it has awarded SRA International
Inc. a six-year, $9 million contract in support of MSC's electronic
government program. The contract calls for SRA to provide
systems development and integration services, technical studies,
business process analysis, and systems security solutions.
It builds on a relationship the Fairfax, Va.-based company
has had with MSC since 1997. SRA has worked on designing,
implementing and maintaining an Electronic Commerce Center
so that the command's internal logistics and acquisition and
accounting systems interface with those of its business partners.
The Electronic Commerce Center is helping MSC collect more
accurate data and reduce manual processes. Under this latest
task order, SRA will support the MSC eGovernment implementation
plan by providing: * Systems integration and other technical
services for the implementation of electronic invoicing and
order processing systems and design. * Implementation of systems
security solutions to ensure secure electronic transmission
of sensitive government data. SRA will perform operations,
maintenance and system administration of the MSC Electronic
Commerce Center and develop enhancements and upgrades to current
systems. MSC provides ocean transportation of equipment, fuel,
supplies and ammunition to sustain U.S. forces worldwide.

From FCW.com, by Matthew French, 21 January
2003

OMB Launches Third
e-Gov Project this Month

The Office of Management and Budget
and the Environmental Protection Agency yesterday launched
another of the 25 e-government initiatives: an online rule-making
portal, Regulations.gov, where citizens and businesses can
find and comment on agency rules. Regulations.gov follows
the IRS' launch of a free tax-filing portal and the Office
of Personnel Management's consolidation of government payroll
service providers to four from 22. The three efforts are part
of OMB's Quicksilver program. "The intent is to change
the world-let democracy see what's in government and get involved
easily," said Mark Forman, OMB associate director for
IT and e-government. "This is clearly a positive step
in that direction." Project managers designed the rule-making
portal with components from four agencies. The Government
Printing Office and the National Archives and Records Administration
supplied the front end, which lets users find proposed and
final rules. EPA and the Food and Drug Administration put
together the back end, which lets users send comments about
proposed rules to the correct agency. "This really is
a great example of agencies working together," said Oscar
Morales, online rule-making project director. Users can search
by agency or by key word, and the comment forms are tailored
to agency requirements, Morales said. EPA plans two more modules
for the portal. One would merge other rule-making sites and
bring in agencies that do not have an online presence for
rules. The other module would push the services to employees'
desks for easier regulatory analysis, said Linda Fisher, EPA
deputy administrator. "Regulations.gov will make it quicker
and easier for the public to search and comment on several
hundred regulations without having to be an expert in how
government is organized," Fisher said. "Every controversial
decision the government makes is enhanced by timely public
input."

From GCN.com, by Jason Miller, 24 January
2003

Airmen can now file
taxes online for free

St. Louis - The Treasury Department,
Office of Management and Budget and the Internal Revenue Service
in Washington launched a new Web site Jan. 17 featuring private-sector
partners who will allow eligible taxpayers to prepare and
file their taxes online for free. A substantial number of
citizens will be able to use this service. President Bush
proposed free online tax filing last February as one of his
e-government initiatives. Less than one year later, millions
of Americans will benefit from free online tax filing services
if they are eligible. Treasury, OMB and IRS officials have
made this possible through a public-private partnership with
some tax software companies known as the Free File Alliance.
According to information found on the IRS Web site, Free File
is an easier, faster and secure way for citizens to file taxes
and will also allow Americans to get refunds in half the time,
said officials. "No one likes paying taxes," said
Kenneth W. Dam, acting treasury secretary. "It's too
confusing and time consuming. The launch of this new Web site
is great news for millions of Americans. Free File makes it
easy. Now they can save time, money and get their refunds
in half the time by filing their taxes online for free."
Each FFA member company sets taxpayer eligibility requirements
for its own program.

These requirements will differ from
company to company. Generally, eligibility will be based on
factors such as age, adjusted gross income, state residency,
military status or eligibility to file a Form 1040EZ or for
the Earned Income Tax Credit. Taxpayers can review the list
of companies, found on the Free File section of the IRS Web
site, where eligibility requirements are shown company by
company. The primary candidates for Free File are those taxpayers
who prepare their own taxes and still file paper returns.
Last filing season, the IRS received nearly 85 million paper
returns, while nearly 47 million e-filed returns. "Free
File puts e-file within reach of more taxpayers than ever,"
said acting IRS Commissioner Robert Wenzel. "They'll
soon discover what the 47 million taxpayers who e-filed last
year already know: e-file is quicker, e-file is more accurate,
e-file is the best way to confirm the IRS received your return,
and it's the fastest route to a refund." E-government
is an integral part of the president's management agenda to
make it easier for citizens and businesses to interact with
the government, save taxpayer dollars and streamline citizen-to-government
transactions. A copy of the president's e-government strategy,
which includes information on each of the e-government initiatives,
is available on the OMB Web site. A Free File initiative fact
sheet, which includes list of the FFA members and frequently
asked questions, can be found on the IRS Web site at www.IRS.gov.

From The Beam, DC, 24 January 2003

Web Site Allows Preparing,
Filing of Taxes Free Online

Today the Treasury Department, Office
of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Internet Revenue Service
(IRS) launched a new web site featuring private-sector partners
that will allow most taxpayers to prepare and file their taxes
online for free. A substantial majority of citizens will be
eligible to use this service at www.irs.gov or through www.firstgov.gov.
President Bush proposed free online tax filing last February
as one of his E-Government initiatives. Less than one year
later, millions of Americans will benefit from free online
tax filing services. Treasury, OMB and IRS have made this
possible through a public-private partnership with a consortium
of tax software companies, the Free File Alliance, LLC. Free
File is an easy, fast and secure way for citizens to file
taxes and will also allow Americans to get refunds in half
the time. The efficiency of E-file saves taxpayers and the
IRS money. "Simply paying taxes is burden enough without
the extra costs in time and professional help that too many
Americans have endured until now. The advent of free, fast
filing for a substantial majority of taxpayers marks a great
breakthrough for the President's agenda to make the federal
government put the needs of the citizens first," said
Director of the OMB Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. "Free File
puts e-file within reach of more taxpayers than ever. They'll
soon discover what the 47 million taxpayers who e-filed last
year already know. E-file is quicker. E-file is more accurate.
E-file is the best way to confirm the IRS received your return,
and it's the fastest route to a refund," said IRS Acting
Commissioner Robert Wenzel.

Each Free File Alliance member company
sets taxpayer eligibility requirements for its own program.
These requirements will differ from company to company. Generally,
eligibility will be based on factors such as age, adjusted
gross income, state residency, military status or eligibility
to file a Form 1040EZ or for the Earned Income Tax Credit.
The agreement requires the Alliance, as a whole, to provide
free services for at least 60 percent or 78 million of the
nation's taxpayers during each filing season. As of Jan. 16,
2003, the industry has exceeded that requirement. The number
may fluctuate throughout the filing season as Alliance membership
an offers change. The primary candidates for Free File are
those taxpayers who prepare their own taxes and still file
paper returns. Last filing season, the IRS received nearly
85 million paper returns and nearly 47 million e-filed returns.
E-government is an integral part of the President's Management
Agenda to make it easier for citizens and businesses to interact
with the government, save taxpayer dollars and streamline
citizen-to-government transactions. A copy of the President's
E-government strategy, which includes information on each
of the E-Government Initiatives, is available on the OMB web
site at www.omb.gov.

From Hillsboro Argus, OR, 24 January 2003

Idea Integration Completes
SAP Integration for City Public Service of San Antonio

Jacksonville, Fla.- Idea Integration,
the e-business consulting and systems integration solutions
unit of MPS Group, Inc. (NYSE: MPS - News), today announced
it has completed the SAP ERP and Utilities implementation
for City Public Service of San Antonio, Texas, the second
largest public utility in the country. City Public Service
(CPS) is the gas and electric utility provider for San Antonio
and the surrounding area. Idea was selected by CPS to implement
SAP's R/3 and the Industry Solution for Utilities - Customer
Care and Services (IS- U/CCS) for all of CPS's back-office
and front-office systems (including its call center). The
SAP solution was integrated with four major systems - CPS's
geographic information system (GIS), mobile data system (MDS),
outage management system (OMS), and Logica's Work Management
Information System (WMIS). Idea also implemented SAP's Business
Warehouse, incorporating core R/3 and utility business requirements.
"The level of integration that we achieved among all
of our systems is outstanding," stated Gary Schaub, senior
vice president of finance and administration for CPS. "The
Idea team established and maintained communication and teamwork
with the CPS staff throughout the life of the project, which
began in August 2000. We are pleased with the outcome of the
creation and integration of our state-of-the-art systems."
"The mission of the CPS external project was to replace
an antiquated legacy system and provide an information system
that enables CPS to better serve its internal and external
customers," said Michael Brooker, vice president of SAP
strategic projects for Idea Integration. "We accomplished
this objective, and, as a result, continue to work with CPS
on additional initiatives that are integral to the services
CPS provides."

From Yahoo News, 28 January 2003

Senators Seek to Restore
Cuts in e-Gov Programs

A pair of senators are pressing for
restoring federal spending for online government services.
Governmental Affairs Committee ranking Democrat Joseph Lieberman
of Connecticut and Montana Republican Conrad Burns asked Senate
Appropriations Committee leaders Monday to replace $45 million
in cuts made to funds earmarked for the provision of electronic
government services. "The legislation will improve management
of electronic government initiatives, enhancing access to
government information and services over the Internet and
better utilizing information technologies to improve government's
efficiency and effectiveness," Lieberman and Burns wrote
in a letter to Sens. Ted Stevens, R-Ala., and Robert Byrd,
D-W.Va. President Bush requested the funding in his fiscal
2003 budget. Lieberman spearheaded legislation to authorize
funding for e-government initiatives over the next six years,
which the Senate approved in November. The current budget
for 2003 passed by the Senate allocates $5 million for e-government
projects.

From GovExec.com, 28 January 2003

Global e-Government

Survey finds that UK government Web
sites are failing to attract visitors - The US government
could spend over USD5 billion on e-government initiatives
by 2007 - Norwich is set to become the first city in the UK
with a high-capacity broadband network, according to Government
Computing News. Norfolk County Council has secured a grant
of STG3.4 million from the East of England Development Agency
to establish a publicly owned broadband network for the city.
One major advantage of the new network is that the council
will be able to bring public sector sites within a virtual
private network, making it easier for different departments
to exchange information, says Tim Anderson, e-government officer
for Norfolk. The network is also expected to boost economic
development in the region and to make high-speed Internet
access available to SMEs at a reasonable cost. It is hoped
that the network will be up and running in 2004. A recent
survey on the use of e-government by the British public found
that government Web sites are largely failing to attract visitors.
A study carried out by ICM for IT consulting firm Hedra claims
that less than 3 percent of Britons regularly access government
information on-line and only 33 percent have ever done so.
Not one person over the age of 65 who responded to the survey
said they regularly accessed government Web sites. In addition,
half of the respondents who receive social security benefit
said they would make more use of government Web sites if they
were more user-friendly.

Meanwhile, a survey by KPMG Consulting
found that two-thirds of Britons would like to see at least
one local service made available on-line. In a survey of 2,028
adults that questioned attitudes towards a future wired local
government, 19 percent said they would be prepared to interact
with the government via the Internet, while 30 percent would
prefer to deal with government services via a call centre.
When asked about the types of activities they would be prepared
to carry out on-line, 38 percent said they would vote in a
local council or general election, 37 percent said they would
apply for or renew a passport, while 36 percent would be prepared
to renew their car tax. However, around one-third of those
surveyed said they would not expect to interact electronically
with government at all. In the US, a recent study claims that
e-government outperformed off-line government and the private
sector in terms of customer satisfaction. According to the
University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index
(ACSI), e-government scored an average of 73.5 points out
of 100 for customer satisfaction, ahead of overall off-line
government (70.2 points) and the private sector (73.1 points).
Government Web sites outperformed all of the ACSI e-business
indices, including news and information sites (73 points),
search engines (68), portals (68), and the overall e-business
sector (68.7). E-government sites that were measured in the
index include the Food and Drug Administration's Office of
Women's Health, the State Department, NASA, and the Department
of Health and Human Services' Office of Public Health and
Science. The US federal government could spend over USD5 billion
on e-government initiatives by fiscal 2007, according to a
report by market research firm Input. The research company
estimates that overall e-government spending will increase
at a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent between 2002
and 2007. The Office of the Secretary of Defense is expected
to lead the way with a projected spend of USD778 million on
e-government in 2007, compared to USD453 million spent in
2002.

The Treasury Department tops the list
of civilian agencies due to spend money on e-government, with
an estimated USD400 million to be spent in 2007, compared
to USD212 million spent last year. Other top e-government
spenders are NASA and the departments of Health and Human
Services, Transportation, Justice and Commerce. Meanwhile,
a report on the GovExec.com Web site says that measures aimed
at stimulating the economy, accelerating the deployment of
broadband, preventing digital piracy and protecting on-line
privacy are some of the key policy items for the high-tech
sector in the 108th US Congress, according to industry lobbyists.
Other issues likely to feature on the high-tech agenda for
Congress include cybersecurity, education policy, federal
procurement, visas for foreign workers, the disposal of high-tech
equipment, Internet taxation and employee stock options. High-tech
lobby group the Information Technology Industry Council ranks
its most important policy objectives as economic stimulus,
the deployment of high-speed Internet access and anti-piracy
measures. New Zealand's project for on-line land conveyancing
has entered its second phase, reports KableNET.com. The Landonline
project, which will begin to be rolled out nationwide in late
January, will make it possible for registered users, expected
to be mainly land professionals, to lodge survey plans and
retain title dealings on-line. The chief executive of Land
Information New Zealand (Linz), Russ Ballard, claims the project
is a world-first. "There are other countries with electronic
records, and some that have implemented electronic lodgement,
but none has combined the two services with survey-accurate
digital data via the Internet," said Ballard.

From Electric News Net, by Sylvia Leatham,
08 January 2003

Absence of Double Taxation Treaty
Discourages Investment

Addis Ababa - Despite a strong action
taken by the Ethiopian government to maximize the number of
Ethiopians investing in the country, absence of a double taxation
treaty between Ethiopia and the US remains to be a matter
of concern for Ethiopian-American citizens who are already
investing in the country. Because the American tax law stipulates
that any one with American citizenship should pay income taxes
regardless of where he/she lives, Ethiopian-American citizens
investing in Ethiopia are subjected to double taxations both
in Ethiopia and America, and this, according to Zemedeneh
Negatu, Managing Partner, Ernst and Young, Ethiopia Office,
is potentially affecting Ethiopian-Americans. The U.S, in
a bid to eliminate double taxations from its citizens working
outside the U.S, had so far signed the treaty with more than
60 countries in the world. In case of Ethiopia, however, though
negotiations were started ten years before, according to Abi
Wolde Meskel, General Manager, Ethiopian Investment Authority,
the treaty has not yet been ratified. In an interview with
Addis Tribune, Zemedeneh said, around 20 Ethiopian-American
legitimate businesses are currently subjected to double taxations
whereas, basically, they have to pay taxes in host countries
[in this case Ethiopia.] The problem, according to him, will
get even worse as more Ethiopian-Americans would come to invest
in Ethiopia not only as corporate business firms but also
as American companies.

Asked why the treaty has not yet been
signed, Zemedeneh said it was because perhaps not many Ethiopian-Americans
are here that the issue was not attracting due attentions.
Besides, the problem might not significantly affect individual
Ethiopian-Americans investing in Ethiopia. "As an individual,
it may not be significant, but as a company, it is a potential
impediment and disincentive," he said. If the Ethiopian
government's agenda is to attract more Ethiopians in diaspora
to come and invest in the country, it should start looking
into issues. Negotiations should also continue as Ethiopia
must be among those countries, he said. "We need to start
looking ahead as to what the potential impediments are, as
this is a forward-looking issue." The other area, which
Zemedeneh believes it is discouraging "Ethiopians by
birth" not to come and invest in the country is the reservation
for them to be involved in the banking sector. Article 270/94,
which was amended last year in favor of Ethiopians in diaspora,
has a tendency of generalizing "Ethiopians by birth"
with foreign investors when it comes to investing in the banking
sector. "We are not arguing that foreign investors should
be allowed to be involved in the sector. We are talking about
"Ethiopians by birth" not foreigners and we should
be allowed to bring in our knowledge, technology and know-how
for the benefit of the development of the sector," he
said, adding that expatriate Ethiopians have to be treated
as Ethiopians in this regard.

He said he personally brought up the
idea when article 270/94 was debated in the parliament and
officials then said they would look at and revise the issue.
"I don't understand why we are not allowed. There are
other mechanisms [if it is to protect local businesses] than
denying access for us. I don't really know the reason."
Abi Wolde Meskel told expatriate Ethiopians gathered for the
second face-to-face discussion with government officials last
week that the issue was brought to the attention of the Council
of Ministers for further discussions and he is hoping that
they [expatriate Ethiopians] would soon be allowed to be involved
in the sector. This will not only discourage Ethiopians in
Diaspora but will also undermine the development of venture
capital fund with local businesses, according to Zemedeneh.
"We could not be involved in venture capital fund, which
will also include investing in the areas of telecommunication,
electric power and road building as they fall under the category
of financial sector." Zemedeneh urged the discussion
between expatriate Ethiopians and government officials to
continue in a more structured and organized way that happens
every year in order to bring about a sustained solutions for
problems surrounding the issue.

From AllAfrica.com, 10 January 2003

Kenya's New Finance
Minister Vows to Restore Investor Confidence

Nairobi - The finance minister in Kenya's
new government is vowing to restore investor confidence in
a country crippled by decades of corruption and government
mismanagement. At his inauguration on December 30, Kenya's
new president, Mwai Kibaki, promised that his first priority
would be to tackle the country's economic problems. "My
government will embark on policies geared to economic reconstruction,
employment creation and immediate rehabilitation of the collapsed
infrastructure," he said. Few people were therefore surprised
when Mr. Kibaki last week gave the key post of finance minister
to David Mwiraria. The two men are close friends. Decades
ago, they were schoolmates at the prestigious Makerere University
in Uganda. Mr. Mwiraria also boasts a solid financial resume.
He has worked as a consultant for the World Bank, and headed
the common market department of the East Africa community,
a political and economic body composed of Kenya, Tanzania
and Uganda. As the opposition's shadow finance minister for
the past five years, he was a strong critic of the financial
policies of the previous KANU-led government of Daniel Arap
Moi. The finance minister told VOA, his government has ambitious
plans to correct the wrongs of the past. "The first thing
we want to do is to stop wastage of public funds through fraudulent
payments, to improve revenue collections by stopping corruption
and to improve our relations with donors." he said. Things
were not always so bad in Kenya. In 1971, the country's economic
indicators were about the same as Singapore's, and the average
income was around $420 a year. But in the years since then,
persistent corruption under the long ruling KANU party gradually
drove most international investors away. The corruption, combined
with the Moi government's refusal to seriously fight it, led
the International Monetary Fund to suspend its loans to Kenya
of $500 million a year. The suspension, which was imposed
two years ago and remains in force, has dealt a crippling
blow to the economy. Mr. Kibaki and his National Rainbow Coalition
have inherited a country that is virtually bankrupt.

The average Singaporean now earns 14
times as much as the average Kenyan, whose annual income is
now around $350 dollars, one-fifth less than it was in 1971.
Mr. Mwiraria said he and his staff are already taking steps
to boost the economy and restore donor and investor confidence
in the country. They are working on privatization plans for
giant state owned organizations, such as the Ports Authority,
Telekom Kenya and the Social Security Fund. The firms are
thought to have earned a lot of money, but many Kenyans believe
that most of it, millions of dollars every year, went into
the pockets of KANU leaders, not the state economy. Mr. Mwiraria
said ending this kind of corruption is essential, if Kenya's
economy is going to be rebuilt. "Our government is really
working hard to bring back good governance, to stop corruption,
to introduce a code of ethics among the civil service and
the government," he said, "and, in this way, we
believe donors will start cooperating with the government."
Though it has only been in power since the end of December,
the new government's determination to fight corruption is
already attracting attention. Analysts say donors and potential
investors have begun responding positively to the finance
minister's plans. "I think the Kenya government's relations
with donors will undoubtedly improve. There is considerable
good will on the part of donors, as there is on the part of
Kenyans and investors generally," said Robert Shaw, an
economist at the Nairobi-based Institute of Economic Affairs.
"Where we need to be a little bit wary is that, we should
not be expecting too much from donors immediately. The government
machinery itself is very, very run down. It has been run down
and politicized for a number of years now. So, even with the
best will in the world, it is going to take quite a lot of
effort to implement some of these things." Mr. Mwiraria
said his ministry is already in talks with the IMF and the
World Bank to restore financial assistance to the country.
He said he expects significant progress soon, possibly in
the next three months. If Mr. Mwiraria succeeds in negotiating
the return of foreign aid and investments, he will be hailed
as a hero in a country that has not had a hero in a very long
time.

From Voice of America, by Alisha Ryu, 10
January 2003

World Bank Harps On
Judicious Use of Facility

Lagos - World Bank has advised that
proceeds from the Bank's facility should be used for intended
development projects, in line with the Article of Agreement
without any non-economic or political consideration. World
Bank Country Director, Dr. Mark D. Tomlinson, who gave this
advice at the Bank's Joint Procurement Financial Management
and Disbursement Workshop, therefore said that "borrowers
must ensure that sound project pronouncement and financial
management systems are in place to generate timely and reliable
financial information. Also, Tomlinson said the periodic financial
and procurement reports for each lending operation be submitted
regularly to the Bank for review. In addition, the country
director noted that independent validation of such reports
be carried out throughout regular external audits. He said
this is because "accountability affects the World Bank's
relationship with its external investors and its ability to
borrow, as well as borrowers credibility with the World Bank
and with other stakeholders." However, Tomlinson said
it is necessary to support project management by a financial
management and procurement system, which is capable of producing
"timely, understandable, relevant and reliable financial
information that will enable management to plan, implement,
monitor and appraise a project's overall progress towards
the achievable of its objectives." Tomlinson stated that,
according to the World Bank, the strengthening of public sector
financial management capacity in Nigeria requires a two-way
approach: at the macro-level, working with the government
at all levels in addressing the main issues identified for
improvement in Country Financial Accountability Assessment
(CFAA) and the Country Procurement Assessment Report (CPAR)
reports in the aim of establishing practices and standards
on a par with international benchmarks; and at the project
level, working with the borrower in ensuring that appropriate
procurement, financial management and disbursement arrangements
are put in place prior to project effectiveness.

From AllAfrica.com, Africa, by Kunle Aderinokun,
22 January 2003

Australia Property Boom $8bn Boost
to State Budgets

Australia's state governments are set
for an $8 billion-plus windfall this financial year as booming
stamp duty revenue from the property market helps underpin
spending plans. The NSW government is the major beneficiary
as it prepares to go to the polls in March, seeking a third
term. The associate director of public finance ratings at
international credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's,
Brendan Flynn, yesterday said soaring stamp duty collections
had helped several states reduce debt, deliver healthy budget
surpluses and, in some cases, offset looser purse strings.
"Every year for the last few years stamp duties in particular
have been greater than expected, but governments realise that
what comes today can go tomorrow," Mr. Flynn said. NSW
expects stamp duty revenues to exceed budget projections largely
because of the continuing boom in real estate, although it
is factoring a softening in the property market into its future
revenue estimates. The Carr government yesterday pledged to
cap its election commitments as it prepares to contest the
election for what would be a record-breaking third term. NSW
Treasurer Michael Egan said promises made in the countdown
to the March 22 election would be restricted to recurrent
spending of $800 million over four years. Mr. Egan said the
government could then still deliver a $6.5 billion annual
public works program and maintain a "sufficient capital
buffer" for unforeseen expenses and meet forward surplus
projections "While some of this can be prudently committed
prior to the elections, it is also important that a sufficient
capital buffer be maintained to meet demands down the track,"
Mr. Egan said. The Reserve Bank of Australia is concerned
that the property market is overheated, and some economists
see some risks that spending plans may eventually need to
be monitored more closely if revenues, including stamp duty,
fall.

Mr. Flynn said the states did not appear
to be factoring a continuing bonanza into their forward estimates.
"Overall most of the states have been benefiting from
higher than expected stamp duty, but they have all been fairly
responsible with what they've been doing with it as well,"
he said. "It can't go on forever. The size of the growth
we've seen in the last few years has been phenomenal. To their
credit, though, the states realise this." NSW is now
expecting taxation revenues above budget projections, due
primarily to the strength of the property market. This financial
year, stamp duties on contracts and conveyances - the largest
single component of stamp-duty revenue - are projected to
be $281 million more than the $3.119 billion bonanza for 2001-02.
Queensland, Tasmania and Victoria are sticking by forecasts
made last year that the super-strong windfalls in stamp duty
revenue will start to fall, although the impact of the strong
housing market in the past six months will become clearer
as updated figures are released. The NSW opposition says that
without the property boom, the government would face a $785
million deficit, rather than its projected surplus of $86
million for 2002-03. In its half-yearly budget review, NSW
attributed an upward revision in its projected revenues for
2002-03 to the strength in the property markets. The windfall
helped offset an increase in budget-time spending estimates.
Access Economics senior economist Alan Tregilgas said the
main short-term challenge for NSW would be if the property
bubble burst. "Each year they've thought it would stop,
but it hasn't," he said.

Other states also expect that an easing
in the housing market will lead to less robust growth from
this source of revenue. In Victoria, the government pulled
in $2.07 billion from stamp duty on land transfer and mortgages
in 2001-02 - about $800 million more than the budget estimate.
It has forecast that stamp duty revenue will fall by 13.5
per cent to about $1.8 billion this financial year as the
property market slowed. Queensland expects its stamp duty
revenue to slump more than 8 per cent, to $1.58 billion, in
this financial year, from $1.73 billion in 2001-02. The final
figure for last year came in ahead of the projection in the
budget, and this year's figure may also be revised in the
forthcoming mid-year budget statement. Tasmania, too, has
been conservative in its forecast for 2002-03. It is on track
to meet the forecast of $53.3 million. The Tasmanian government
received about $80.4 million in stamp duty on conveyancing
and mortgages in 2001-02, about 46 per cent above what was
forecast after help from one-off projects. South Australian
stamp duties are running ahead of budget but the figures will
not be known until the Rann government publishes its mid-year
budget review in January. The government had expected a sharp
fall this financial year, after the first-home owners; grant
sent them bounding ahead in 2001-2002. The previous year's
Liberal government budget had allowed for stamp duty on conveyances
of $241.9 million but the result was $354.4 million. Other
property stamp duties, including mortgages, leases and cheques,
realised $72.8 million. Total stamp duties raised about $772
million. This financial year, the government is seeking $286.6
million for conveyance duty and $727.6 million from all stamp-duty
receipts.

From Australian Financial Review, Australia
, 3 December 2003

Li Lanqing on Sound
Fiscal and Taxation System

Chinese Vice-Premier Li Lanqing says
the fiscal and taxation system should be further improved
to meet the needs of the socialist market economy. Speaking
at a national conference in Beijing on fiscal and taxation
work, Li Lanqing stresses that a sound fiscal system is an
important part of building the socialist market economy, and
for meeting the demand to transform the functions of government
departments. He says China should further deepen reforms in
fiscal management based on China's national conditions. He
also urges enhancing reform of the taxation system and establishing
a sound mechanism that embodies state policy and caters to
the requirements of the state budget. The vice-premier points
out that China will crack down hard on tax crimes.

From People's Daily Online, 26 December
2002

BearingPoint and FreeBalance
Deliver Financial Management System to Afghanistan

New Financial Management System Will
Help Afghanistan Manage the Government Operating Budget and
some of the over $4 Billion in Foreign Project Related Aid
- BearingPoint, Inc. (NYSE:BE), one of the world's largest
business consulting and systems integration firms, today announced
that it has assisted the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan
to successfully install and operate the Afghanistan Financial
Management Information System (AFMIS), as part of a $3.95
million contract to help the government upgrade its accounting
system. The two-year project, financed by the World Bank,
is viewed as a critical step to ensuring accountability for
processing and reporting the Government's operating budget,
which is largely financed by international contributions.
An estimated $4 billion in international aid is expected to
flow to the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan; some
of which AFMIS will help track as the system's coverage grows
to include grants for donor-funded projects. "This project
is an essential step in developing the governance infrastructure
necessary to support the reconstruction effort in Afghanistan,"
said Michael Vlaisavljevich, a managing director with BearingPoint's
International Public Services practice. "The ability
to accurately and efficiently manage these funds will help
the Afghan government provide much-needed food, housing, healthcare,
education, roads and utilities to its people." BearingPoint
is serving as the project's program manager, responsible for
the design and operation of the core accounting system for
the Ministry of Finance. In addition, the company is providing
systems integration and financial management services. The
system will be implemented in two phases, with the immediate
phase creating the capability of electronically recording
expenditures, producing checks, and generating disbursement
reports. BearingPoint will also assist the Ministry of Finance
to recruit and train employees on the new system.

The project recorded its first milestone
event on November 23rd, when the Treasury Department of Afghanistan
successfully completed its first month of computerized operation,
producing some 4,700 checks through a system designed by FreeBalance,
Inc. of Ottawa, Canada. Alan Pearson, the BearingPoint project
manager, also presented the first-ever electronic check to
Dr. Ashraf Ghani, Minister of Finance, during a ceremony in
Kabul. As scheduled, the full system is expected to be functioning
in March 2003, six months after project initiation. BearingPoint
employees will continue to help maintain the system after
that date. FreeBalance, a subcontractor to BearingPoint on
the project, has been selected to supply its FreeBalance eFinancialsTM
software and provide associated professional services as a
foundation for the new financial management system. The government-specific
software includes an allotment process, commitment accounting,
basic cash management and payment control capabilities. "FreeBalance
is proud of the important role we are playing internationally
and delighted to have the opportunity to work on this critical
project in Afghanistan," said Michael McTaggart, vice
president of eFinancials at FreeBalance, Inc. "We have
developed unique software and global expertise that enable
us to rapidly deploy government solutions in countries in
transition." About BearingPoint, Inc. - BearingPoint
(NYSE:BE), formerly KPMG Consulting, Inc., is one of the world's
largest business consulting and systems integration firms
dedicated to aligning business and systems to empower Global
2000 companies and government organizations. Providing business
and technology strategy, systems design and architecture,
applications implementation, network infrastructure and managed
services, BearingPoint's 17,000 employees worldwide help clients
deploy business systems to access information on a timely
basis, empowering them to create value in their enterprises.
BearingPoint's corporate headquarters is in McLean, Virginia.
For more information, visit the Company's website at http://www.BearingPoint.com.
About FreeBalance Inc. - For close to two decades FreeBalance
has been providing advanced, innovative software solutions
to government agencies worldwide. Since the company's inception
in 1984, FreeBalance has grown to be a premier provider of
commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) software designed to automate
the core business and financial functions of government.

FreeBalance eFinancials TM is an integrated
financial and material management system built specifically
to satisfy the special information requirements of the public
sector. FreeBalance eFinancials TM consists of a series of
dynamic modules that can be assembled to form a fully integrated,
GAAP-compliant management system. FreeBalance Inc., named
as one of Federal Computer Week's Top Ten Companies to Watch,
is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, and Washington, D.C. FreeBalance
clients include the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Department
of Education, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. Department
of State, U.S. Department of the Army, State of California,
New York State, Government of Canada, and the Province of
Ontario. This press release may contain forward-looking statements
relating to our operations that are based on our current expectations,
estimates and projections. Words such as "expects,"
"intends," "plans," "projects,"
"believes," "estimates," and similar expressions
are used to identify these forward-looking statements. These
statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve
risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to
predict. Forward-looking statements are based upon assumptions
as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. Actual
outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed
or forecasted in these forward-looking statements. As a result,
these statements speak only as of the date they were made
and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise
any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Our actual results
may differ from the forward-looking statements for many reasons,
including: the business decisions of our clients regarding
the use of our services; the timing of projects and their
termination; the availability of talented professionals to
provide our services; the pace of technological change; the
strength of our joint marketing relationships and the actions
of our competitors. In addition, these statements could be
affected by domestic and international economic and political
conditions. For a more detailed discussion of these factors,
see Exhibit 99.1 in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2002.

From CanadaIT.com, 7 January 2003

World Bank Assistance
to Pakistan Focuses on Supporting Home-Grown Reforms

Islamabad - The World Bank Group's
Country Assistance Strategy (CAS) for FY-2003-05 focuses on
supporting Pakistan's home-grown reforms through a program
comprising advisory and analytical services; institutional
capacity building; and demand driven lending. This was stated
in the recent issue of Pakistan Country's Update of the World
Bank. According to the reports, around 15 percent of the public
investment programme, has been financed by the Bank, in its
fifty years partnership. During this period, the World Bank
has approved 242 loans, amounting to $13 billion, of which
146 are interest free IDA Credits (ie carries only a service
charge of less than 1 percent with maturity of 35 years).
The Bank accounts for around 23 percent of the country's total
external public debt, the report added. It further said that
over 85 percent of Bank funds have been used for expanding
and rehabilitating physical infrastructure in the following
areas: Indus Basin Irrigation and Drainage System; WAPDA and
telecommunications network; primary education and health facilities
all over the country; national highways system and provincial
roads; water and sanitation in major cities, towns and rural
areas; Karachi Port; gas production, transmission and distribution;
and oil production and refining. The remaining 15 percent
have been balance of payment adjustment loans in support of
structural reforms in the areas of banking system; energy
sector; fiscal and financial management; and public sector
management. The World Bank's net disbursements to Pakistan
have increased substantially over the last few years. The
Bank disbursed $860 million in FY-02 the highest ever disbursed
in its fifty-year history in Pakistan; and almost all consessional-IDA
terms). The report added that the World Bank Group's Country
Assistance Strategy (CAS) for FY-03-05 focuses on supporting
Pakistan's home-grown reforms through a program comprising
advisory and analytical services; institutional capacity building;
and demand driven lending.

This programme revolves around the
following key pillars - Strengthening macroeconomic stability
and government effectiveness: The Bank is supporting the government's
efforts to restore fiscal sustainability, maintain internal
and external debt at sustainable levels, and improve the overall
governance environment and effectiveness at the federal, provincial,
and district levels. To this end, the Bank has had a significant
programme of analytical work and financial assistance including.
Advisory support to the Government's Poverty Reduction Strategy,
and following analytical studies: the Development Policy Review,
the Country Financial Accountability Assessment, and the Country
Procurement Assessment. The Bank has recently provided over
one billion US dollars, as fast disbursing financial assistance
to support federal and provincial structural reforms (Structural
Adjustment Credits-1 & 2,and Provincial SACs for Sindh
and NWFP). The on-going investment Project for Improvement
in Financial Accounting and Auditing (PIFRA) is supporting
major institutional and policy reforms in the government's
accounting and auditing functions, the report added. It further
said that in future, the Bank will further its support in
these areas, through (i) continued analytical assistance to
the Government's Poverty Reduction Strategy, undertaking Federal
and Provincial Expenditure Reviews, District Assessment; and
(ii) financial assistance to support: Federal and Provincial
economic reforms; implementation of the first stage of the
Central Board of Revenue functional re-organization and the
fundamental cultural change through a Tax Administration project;
and extension of modernization of the government's accounting
and auditing functions to district governments through a follow-on-operation-
PIFRA-II. For strengthening the enabling climate for Investment,
the Bank Group's assistance to strengthen the investment climate
in Pakistan includes a combination of analytical work and
financial assistance targeted at key sectors. These include
the Analytical studies including: the Private Sector Strategy,
Investment Climate Study, and Oil and Gas Sector Policy report.
In addition, Bank's on-going IBRD/IDA assistance is supporting:
(i) banking-sector reforms including privatisation through
the Banking Sector Restructuring Credit, and Technical Assistance
for the State bank, (ii) power sector reforms and investments
through the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower Project, and (iii) policy
and institutional reforms in rural sector through the National
Drainage Program Project and On-farm Water Management project
for NWFP.

The future Bank assistance includes:
(i) continued analytical and advisory support for oil and
gas, power sector, rural and water sector through studies
such as: Oil and Gas Sector Policy Report; trade Policy review;
Rural Factor Market Study; and Water Resource Management Study;
and (ii) continued financial assistance for privatisation,
and banking reforms through Adjustment Credits, and support
to the transport sector and the National Highways Authority
(NHA) reforms through an investment credit which is likely
to be considered by the Bank's Board in 2003. For supporting
pro-poor and pro-gender equity policies, the Bank is supporting
the core objectives of the government's poverty reduction
strategy by promoting educational and health, supporting pro-poor,
community driven development, and targeted poverty alleviation
programs. To provide the knowledge base on poverty in Pakistan
and for future dialogue and assistance in this area, a major
piece of analytical work - The Poverty Assessment- was undertaken
in FY02. Similarly, a comprehensive Country Gender Assessment
report is expected to be completed next year, which would
provide the basis for Bank support for pro-gender equity policies
in the country, the report added. The report further said
that the Bank has recently provided budgetary support, of
about $200 million, in the form of Provincial Adjustment Credits
to support major reforms in two provinces- NWFP and Sindh-
thus enhancing the provincial governments' fiscal capacity
to increase pro-poor expenditures, especially in education
and health sectors. The Bank's assistance for rural and urban
sector development emphasizes community-driven, poverty targeted
projects, such as the on-going Poverty Alleviation Fund Project-
PPAF and the Community Infrastructure Projects (CIP) in NWFP
and AJK. These projects aim to empower rural and urban poor
by providing them with access to resources and services, such
as micro-credit, community-driven infrastructure, and capacity
building. The Bank will continue this approach in the future
through follow-on projects such as PPAF-II, and Community
Based Infrastructure Projects in other provinces, the report
added.

From Daily Times, 7 January 2003

China Taxation Admin
To Intensify Tax Evasion Crackdown

Beijing - Administration of Taxation
officials said Tuesday. Tax evasion deprived government coffers
of about 35 billion yuan ($1=CNY8.28) in revenue last year,
administration Deputy Director Cui Junhui said at a press
briefing. Excluding customs duties and agricultural tax, total
tax revenue in 2002 totaled CNY1.7 trillion, an increase of
12% from 2001. State Administration of Taxation Director Jin
Renqing said that he expected tax revenue growth to slightly
exceed gross domestic product growth this year, but didn't
specify a figure. China posted an 8% year-on-year increase
in GDP in 2002 and is expected to record at least 7% GDP growth
this year. China urgently needs higher tax revenues to help
offset an expected record budget deficit of CNY309.8 billion
in 2002, fueled by increased spending on social services and
infrastructure projects. The tax administration has prioritized
a crackdown on tax evasion as one of several methods of boosting
tax revenue, including blocking existing tax loopholes. "We're
going to continue to investigate (tax evasion) cases, especially...the
most significant cases," Cui said. "We are determined
to investigate and prosecute anybody, whoever he or she is
(and) we are going to bring him or her to justice no matter
what kind of people they are."

Cui said that tax fraud investigators
will pursue both foreign and domestic taxpayers regardless
of their size or status. China's battle against tax evasion
last year bagged high-profile cheats including film star Liu
Xiaoqing and multimillionaire tycoon Yang Bin. Liu was arrested
June 20 on charges of evading CNY14.6 million in taxes since
1996. Authorities raised CNY6.6 million earlier this month
from the sale of 18 of Liu's confiscated apartments and houses.
Yang, the former chairman of Euro-Asia Agricultural (Holdings)
Ltd. (Q.EAA), was placed under house arrest for alleged business
malfeasance late last year shortly after North Korea appointed
him to head a new special economic zone centered on the reclusive
Stalinist state's border town of Sinuiju adjacent China's
Liaoning province. Jin warned that public figures should be
particularly conscientious in fulfilling their tax obligations.
"We have conducted this kind of investigation not because
they were celebrities but because they were involved in tax
evasion activities...(but) celebrities have gained much more
in terms of trust and benefit from society so they should
return what they should return to the general public,"
he said. (By Phelim Kyne, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588-5848;
Phelim.kyne@dowjones.com).

From Yahoo News, 14 January 2003

Budget Figures Surpass Estimates

Economists say new numbers do not affect
need for finance reform - The government has reported better-than-expected
state budget figures for 2002, but economists remain downbeat
about the current state of public finances. According to the
Finance Ministry, last year's state budget deficit - the gap
between what the government receives in revenue and what it
spends on public services - was 45.7 billion Kc ($1.5 billion).
The figure was almost 15 billion Kc lower than the government's
estimate last fall of 60 billion Kc for 2002. In all, the
state received 705.04 billion Kc and spent 750.76 billion
Kc last year. Revenue included 20.6 billion Kc in privatization
earnings from the National Property Fund and 17.3 billion
Kc in Russian debt repayments. The Finance Ministry said the
numbers were the result of higher corporate tax collections
(which were about 20 billion Kc better than expected), improved
retail sales over Christmas (which brought in more VAT revenue)
and 3.1 billion Kc in savings from lower interest rates on
the public debt. Economists welcomed the news but they stressed
the figures should not weaken the government's resolve toward
fiscal reform. See related story, A8. "The figures are
definitely positive, but it doesn't change the urgent need
for public finance reform," said Martin Kupka, chief
economist at CSOB, the nation's largest bank.

That view was echoed by Finance Minister
Bohuslav Sobotka, who said Jan. 5 that reforms were necessary
if the government wants to maintain the welfare state. Helena
Horska, an analyst at Ceska sporitelna, stressed that the
figures do not include full 2000 and 2001 losses at Ceska
konsolidacni agentura (CKA), the state-owned agency that covers
debts from state companies. Most of the losses repaid last
year were from 1999, she said. Before the August 2002 floods,
which affected a number of public spending plans, the government
had planned to pay off more than 200 billion Kc in CKA losses
in time for this country's entry to the European Union in
2004. That prospect, however, now appears increasingly unlikely.
"The picture is less optimistic when you start to look
closely at the figures," Horska said. Horska added that
the corporate tax revenue figures are not as impressive as
they look on paper. She said the state will be forced in the
spring to pay back a substantial amount in tax receipts, because
taxes paid last year were calculated on overly optimistic
forecasts of corporate earnings. Nonetheless, Kupka said he
expected higher tax receipts in 2003 because of improved economic
conditions for companies in the second half of this year.
(Ben Schiller's e-mail address is bschiller@praguepost.com)

From Prague Post, Czech Republic, by Ben
Schiller, 8 January 2003

Public Finance Reform
Plan's Hopes Dimmer

Finance minister Bohuslav Sobotka's
proposals to reform public spending received a major body
blow last week when the government decided not to commit itself
on the budget reform package until March. In what could be
the death knell for hopes to reduce massive government spending
anytime soon, the Cabinet last Wednesday set up a government
commission that will be led by Prime Minister Vladimir Spidla,
to examine aspects of the reform package. Spidla is known
to be reluctant to implement far-reaching spending cuts. Many
in the Social Democratic Party (CSSD), including Spidla and
Labor and Social Affairs Minister Zdenek Skromach, fear that
spending cuts will go against their party program and cost
them the support of core voters. Economists and political
analysts fear the only decisions that will be taken by Spidla's
commission will be to implement cosmetic reforms. That, they
warn, could postpone the Czech Republic's adoption of the
single currency euro and harm the economy. Sobotka prepared
the reform proposals in the months leading up to the end of
2002 with a team of economists that included former finance
minister Pavel Mertlik (now chief economist at Raiffeisenbank),
Petr Zahradnik of Conseq Finance and economist Ondrej Schneider.
The two proposals he presented to the government last week
involved a more modest package that would reduce deficit spending
to 4.9 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2006 and
a more ambitious package of cuts that would bring the deficit
down to 3.7 percent in the same year.

The approved budget deficit for 2003
is Kc 111.3 billion ($3.7 billion), or nearly 5 percent of
GDP. In the end, neither package was adopted. "Sobotka's
proposals would definitely be a first step in the right direction,
and now is the right time to reform public spending if the
Czech Republic wants to join the eurozone at the same time
as its Central European neighbors," said Martin Kupka,
chief economist at Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka (CSOB). "If
this first step is not realized and followed up by other steps,
such as pension reform, this could hinder GDP growth in future
years and negatively affect the crown." Foreign investors
could shun the crown if they are concerned by the fragility
of public spending reforms and the date for adoption of the
euro is in question, Kupka said. They could choose instead
to back the currencies of neighboring countries set to adopt
the euro earlier. A similar warning was aired by Czech National
Bank (CNB) deputy governor Oldrich Dedek at a conference on
the euro last Thursday. While Dedek insisted that the Czech
Republic had to find a favorable exchange rate at which to
join the eurozone, being left behind by countries like Poland,
Hungary and Slovakia in moves to join the euro would damage
the Czech economy. The CNB, he said, advocated spending cuts
now to make the 2006 deadline for paring down the government
deficit in readiness for early adoption of the euro. The Maastricht
criteria for adoption of the single currency sets a maximum
of 3 percent of GDP for the government deficit. Economists
have repeatedly warned that it will take around three years
to gradually reduce spending to reach that target.

If the government opts for a deficit
of 4.9 percent in 2006, the country would have difficulty
making the grade on this key Maastricht criterion until 2009.
"It's quite clear that Sobotka produced a rational reform
package under the influence of well-known economists,"
said Vaclav Zak, editor-in-chief of the political bi-monthly
Listy. "I am concerned that Spidla has taken over because
he doesn't really have that great an understanding of economic
issues." "Spidla is reluctant to make huge cuts
and unless his advisers can make him understand the need for
reform, I fear there will be little or no reform," he
added. Resistance to the package is also coming from MPs.
All the party's MPs and members seem divided over the issue
of whether to reform or adhere to CSSD pre-election promises
(see editorial, page 8). "A large number of the party's
MPs are completely against the idea of extensive reform because
they feel that this would lose them the next election,"
said Kamil Janacek, chief economist at Komercni Banka (KB).
"In reality this means they have opted for the short-term
interest of keeping their seats and in return have sacrificed
the long-term financial stability of the country." "As
the commission set up to examine the proposals contains people
from the trade unions or with strong ties to the unions, we
can expect very little in the way of support for Sobotka's
reforms," he added. Spidla is also apparently reluctant
to take any major steps until after the election of a new
president to replace Vaclav Havel. The odds are currently
on Parliament failing to elect a new president, necessitating
direct elections for the job, which could take months to arrange
as the Czech Constitution would have to be amended. So a decision
on reform could be indefinitely postponed. "I understand
the Social Democrats' reluctance to go against their pre-election
promises and postpone any decision, but unfortunately their
promises do not reflect the economic realities of the Czech
economy," Kupka said. "Unless they realize that,
we will be stuck with cosmetic and meaningless cuts in spending."

From Prague Business Journal, Czech Republic,
by Nick Carey, 13 January 2003

EU to Censure States
over Public Finances

The European Commission is to slap
the wrists of three of its largest members over for their
lack of progress in improving their public finance. In a draft
document due to be approved at its meeting in Strasbourg tomorrow,
the Commission will reportedly castigate Germany, France and
Italy for having made the "least effective follow-up"
to their commitments on economic policy. The censure comes
less than a week after the Commission said Germany must begin
taking action on cutting its budget deficit by May or face
hefty fines. The state's deficit breached the EU's 3pc limit
last year and may do so again in 2003. A pay deal negotiated
last week with public sector union Verdi, which represents
three million workers, is likely to put further pressure on
the Exchequer finances. The document summarises the progress
of EU countries in implementing economic policy guidelines
agreed with the Commission. Denmark and Sweden emerge as star
performers overall, following by a middle group that includes
Ireland, Belgium, Greece, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal
and the UK. Lagging behind are Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg,
Austria and Finland. On France, the paper said that while
it "appears" not to have breached the 3pc limit
in 2002, it is targeting "no sufficient decline"
in the deficit this year.

From Online.ie, Ireland, 14 January 2003

Public Spending Law:
9.89 Billion in Payments and 8.44 Billion in Obligations on
Hold

Rome - The Italian Finance Ministry
has enacted a decree blocking spending, putting 9.89 billion
euro in payments and 8.44 billion euro in obligations by the
public administration on hold. These figures come from a table
accompanying the decree which was recently sent to Parliament
and reduces the issuance of securities by state administrations
to 85 percent of cash funds and reduces spending obligations
to the same percentage. The block in obligations primarily
concerns the Finance Ministry (for about 3.3 billion euro),
the Defense Ministry (1.172 billion euro) and the Education
Ministry (805 million). As to payments, 3.63 billion euro
in payments by the Finance Ministry, 1.166 billion by Defense
and 1 billion by Education were put on hold.

From AGI, 14 January 2003

Why Public Finance
is in Disarray

The latest annual report by the auditor
general on public accounts, covering the year 2001, was laid
on the Table of the House of Representatives on Monday. There
is no doubt that the office of the auditor general is becoming
more inquisitive, more investigative and more efficient. It
is progressively investigating every nook and cranny of the
administration, as evidenced by the fact that the latest report
runs to 410 pages, compared to 220-odd pages that make up
the reports for the two preceding years. The more one digs
into this report, the more one finds out that various sensitive
areas of the administrative civil service do not go by the
book and could not care less. It is not enough that these
sectors are ignoring established rules and regulations. This
state of affairs has prevailed in spite of repeated admonitions
by the auditor general and the watchdog role of the press.
The first 'audit concern' highlighted in the last annual report
refers to the old chestnut relating to the conciliation (or
lack thereof) between the public account held at the Central
Bank and the Treasury Books. This reconciliation exercise
has not been held since June 1992, which, incidentally, was
the same year when the present minister of finance took control
of his ministry. Year after year, the auditor general referred
to this "critical shortcoming". The latest report
stated that monies "held in trust, received or paid by
the government, at December 31, 2001, amounted to Lm7,085,177
as accounted for in the Treasury Books. However, the Central
Bank statement of the public account ended with a closing
balance of no less than Lm16,048,465, as on the same date".

The discrepancy does not represent
small beer and raises the ominous question as to who has been
responsible for this ongoing situation and why no prompt disciplinary
steps were taken to regularise matters in the span of eight
years. Yet another prime concern
of the auditor general, which has become a regular feature
of his reports, relates to arrears of revenues due to the
government. These have been accumulated with the years and
amounted approximately to Lm404 million as at December 31,
2001. This is an area where significant improvements would
have been registered, considering the inefficient procedures
for the collection of debt, weak enforcement procedures for
the settlement of fines imposed, and lack of correct documentation.
The auditor general has confessed that the balance of arrears
of revenue reflects approximative figures because not all
revenue collecting sources submitted their returns. Some returns
are incomplete or are themselves made up of approximations.
Some arrears are time-barred. The auditor general noticed
that there is "clear evidence" that the gross amount
of arrears due to the social security department "is
unrealistic and unreliable". To cap it all, a number
of departments did not submit any return. This amounts to
a terrible official indictment of the way government finances
are managed. The wonder is how the National Audit Office can
find its way through this shambles. The indictment is not
restricted to the manifestly inadequate book-keeping. It goes
far beyond. It relates to non-compliance with standing regulations,
inadequate record keeping, payment vouchers not covered by
VAT receipts, disregard of inventory regulations, and delay
in remitting receipts to the public account held at the Central
Bank which affects the liquidity of the government, besides
increasing the risk of abuse.

The auditor general highlighted a range
of irregularities whose nature and effect warranted a mention,
even though these were not consistently encountered. These
included a lack of accountability and non-existence of the
basic elements of stock control; weak internal controls, including
segregation of duties, double payments being made out of public
funds as a result; and poor utilisation of ad hoc computerised
facilities. The latter leads to a situation where revenue
collection is not effective. Four departments/sections failed
to submit the relevant information to the National Audit Office
with the result that planned audits had to be aborted. This
was in flagrant breach of Section 108(5) of the Constitution.
The report meticulously examines the operation of all ministries
and departments and exposes several irregularities and misdemeanours.
The ministry of finance, for example, does not keep a petty
cash book as stipulated by the General Financial Regulations.
At the ministry of education, the National Audit Office examined
122 vouchers in the course of their audit. Sixty of these
(49 per cent), relating to 48 suppliers, were not covered
by a fiscal document. A total amount of Lm32,000 is not covered
by a VAT receipt. This may result in VAT collections not being
passed on to the VAT department. The ministry of economic
services was in breach of the provisions of financial rules
and regulations when it failed to remit immediately to the
Central Bank money that was being collected. The control issues
raised at the Department of Information, and calling for improved
management systems, referred to the disregard of procurement
regulations, an unreliable inventory ledger and inaccurate
stock records.

Of the total revenue arrears due to
the government at the end of 2001, amounting to Lm404 million,
no less than Lm73.3 million were due from the government departments
and parastatal bodies. There are several reports of non-compliance
with standing transport regulations and references to the
lack of proper record-keeping of vehicle log books, attributed
to far too many departments; to lack of control over the use
of vehicles and consumption of fuel; and to the drawing up
of purchase orders after the respective purchases were made.
One does not know whether to weep or cry at this state of
affairs which seems to be endemic in the general service.
It certainly raises the legitimate question as to whether
or not the high-faulting talk about quality service charters
to certain government departments is about fact or fiction!
The due diligence exercised by the auditor general raises
serious questions about the apparent lack of accountability
at the top levels of the civil service and, even more so,
about the fact that Maltese taxpayers never, ever, hear about
disciplinary measures against defaulters who are in breach
of the provisions of the constitution, let alone standing
finance legislation.

From The Times of Malta, by J.G. Vassallo,
17 January 2003

France Vows to Meet
Deficit Target

Paris - French Finance Minister Francis
Mer said the government would meet 2003 public finance commitments,
which include a deficit at 2.6% of gross domestic product
(GDP). The government also expected economic growth this year
of 2.0%-2.5%, Mer said during New Year's greetings to the
press. France "must prepare a progressive reduction of
its deficit. We can no longer allow a mountain of debt to
pile up," Mer said. France, Germany, Italy, and Portugal
have all been warned by the European Commission to reduce
public deficits that have approached or breached the EU ceiling
of 3.0% of GDP. Mer also told reporters 2003 would be a year
of structural reforms covering decentralisation, pension plans
and the national health service known as social security.
He warned however that "the international (economic)
context will remain uncertain until we manage to resolve,
I hope peacefully, the crisis in Iraq. "Globally, I restate
my confidence in the capacity of our economy - which is fundamentally
healthy and competitive - to resume a sustained rhythm of
growth once international uncertainly has been lifted."

From Business Day, South Africa, 17 January
2003

Commission to Improve
Financial Management of Research Projects

The Commission has adopted an action
plan aimed at improving and clarifying the financial management
of shared cost research projects. The plan follows observations
by some Directors-General in 2001 and was requested to address
'the complexity of financial management of indirect actions
through simplification and enhanced consistency between the
different systems currently in place and through improved
contract management.' To improve organisational coordination,
an inter-service group on the financial management of contracts
is set up to ensure that contract interpretation is consistent
and to facilitate the exchange of best practices. A network
of correspondents reports directly to the inter-service group
on specific issues. For projects funded under the Fifth Framework
Programme (FP5), the Commission will remind contractors of
the possibility of financial audit and ask them to inform
their partners of their responsibilities regarding the requirements
of the contract. The Commission will also inform contractors
of common problems identified during financial audits so that
the same mistakes are not repeated. The verification of cost
claims is identified as another area for action. 'Desk audits',
carried out when cost statements are submitted, will be increased
and random sampling of cost claims will be made for each project.
The number of full financial audits will be increased by some
DGs. New rules for participation and a new contract structure
for the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) should simplify the
management of shared cost projects. The new contract does
not impose cost categories and permits more flexibility for
the consortium to manage its research project. A compilation
of frequently asked questions focusing specifically on rules
for participation and contractual issues will be posted on
the FP6 website. If overclaims are still found to exist, sanctions
exist to protect the Community's financial interests. In addition,
recovery orders, as provided for in the Treaty and the Rules
for Participation, will be incorporated into the model contract.

From EU Business, UK, 16 January 2003

Public Spending Law:
Treasure, Effects Also in 2003-2004

Rome - The corrective measure in terms
of GDP guaranteed in public accounts in 2002 following the
decree to block spending is equal to 0.2-0.3 percent and will
have similar effects in the following fiscal years. This was
reported in a report which accompanies the Economy Ministry
decree which has been presented to Parliament. The effects
of the spending limitation contained in the manoeuvre "can
be estimated in a correction between 0.2 and 0.3 pct of GDP
both in terms of requirements and the net national debt."
According to the Treasury for the following fiscal years (2003
and 2004) "we can reasonably foresee pulling forward
effects which can be measured on the same level as the limits
to the commitments automatically involving a reduction in
past residue which will produce positive effectives in the
same years."

From AGI, 13 January 2003

EU Reaches 'Political
Agreement' on Interest Taxation

The EU's finance ministers ended a
decade-long row over a Union-wide rule on taxing income from
cross-border savings on 21 January. The political deal seeks
to combat tax evasion, and the Member States agreed to crack
down on investors who attempt to escape taxes by depositing
money in banks abroad. The ministers agreed to a compromise
under which Luxembourg, Austria and Belgium can maintain their
time-honoured tradition of bank secrecy. However, the new
regulations require these countries to withhold tax on savings
interest earned by citizens of other EU Member States. These
countries would then transfer 75 per cent of the proceeds
to the investors' countries of origin. The withholding tax
will amount to 15 per cent after 2004, 20 per cent after 2007,
and 35 per cent after 2010. Non-EU member Switzerland would
apply the same rates. The Union is trying to persuade the
US, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Andorra and San Marino to adopt
"equivalent measures". Under the deal, the other
EU countries would transfer investor details to the national
tax authorities starting in 2004. The agreement is expected
to lead to higher taxes in Europe at a time when the Member
States are struggling with the slowest growth rate in a decade.
Meanwhile, taxation experts believe investors may soon find
loopholes. Europe's taxes are already among the world's steepest.
In the wake of the deal, the secretary general of the Organisation
for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Donald Johnston,
said Europe had endangered a global effort to crack down on
tax havens by allowing three EU Member States to keep their
banking secrecy. He said the agreement would damage the OECD's
own efforts to promote greater financial openness worldwide.

From Euractiv, Belgium, 22 January 2003

Security Worries Hold
Back UK Online Tax Returns

Security and usability concerns are
holding back Brits from filling their tax returns online.
That's the main conclusion of a survey into public attitudes
to government e-services, commissioned by firewall vendor
Check Point. It found that only seven per cent of 200 people
polled intended to complete their tax return online. Of the
93 per cent who preferred traditional paper returns, just
under half (43 per cent) named security as the reason. Concerns
over the reliability of Internet connection (32 per cent),
difficulty with Government Gateway online registration (10
per cent) and the lack of an Internet connection at home (five
per cent) were also named as reasons for paper submissions.
The Government is keen to drive online tax returns but despite
a high profile advertising campaign, figures for self-assessment
returns submitted online look like they will closely mirror
last year's disappointing figure of 75,449, less than one
per cent of the population. The deadline for online tax returns
this year is Friday (January 31). Around nine million people
(nearly half of all Internet users in the UK) used their credit
card to make an online purchase last year, according to Check
Point. The company argues that many of those who happily pay
for goods online can be persuaded to fill out tax returns
on the Net if the government does more to build confidence
in e-government.

From Security Focus, by John Leyden, 30
January 2003

Personal Taxation System Offers
Breaks for New Immigrants and Returning Residents

As of yesterday, Israel implemented
a personal taxation system that comes to replace the previous
territorial method. The change spreads the Income Tax Commission's
net over revenue Israeli residents receive from foreign sources
that, until now, were not part of the Israeli tax base. The
new system is of particular significance to new immigrants
who will receive income from foreign sources in the future
and who, until now, had paid taxes only on funds that were
transferred directly to Israel. In order to not to overburden
this population during the transition period to the new taxation
system, legislators have inserted certain breaks for such
individuals. The breaks covered below come in addition to
the tax credit points granted to immigrants. Some of the benefits
are also being granted to returning residents - citizens who
have returned to Israel after living abroad for three consecutive
years, during which time they were not considered Israeli
residents. Passive income - For the first five years after
a person becomes an Israeli resident for the first time, he
will enjoy a tax exemption on income from interest, dividends,
pensions, royalties and rent that is not revenue from a business.
The exemption applies to income from foreign sources owned
by the individual before he became an Israeli resident. An
individual who has been in Israel as a resident for between
5 and 10 years as of January 1, 2003, will be exempt from
paying tax on income from the aforementioned sources until
the end of 2003. Returning residents will also receive this
exemption, as long as the source of the income is an asset
acquired during the sojourn abroad as a foreign resident.
Foreign currency deposits - An individual who became an Israeli
resident for the first time will be exempt from tax on interest
income from foreign currency deposits in a banking institute
for 20 years.

The exemption is conditional on the
closing of the deposit for a fixed term of no less than three
months, within 90 days of the transfer of the funds to Israel,
as well as other conditions. The exemption will apply only
to deposits of funds owned by the individual abroad before
his immigration to Israel. Business income For four years
from the date a person first becomes an Israeli resident,
he will be exempt from tax on his income from a business he
had abroad, provided he owned the business for five years
before he first became an Israeli resident. This benefit is
applicable to income from a business he had, whether he continues
to be involved in it or is eligible to receive income from
it. Capital gains - An individual who became an Israeli resident
for the first time will be exempt from tax on capital gains
from the sale of a property owned by him overseas before he
became an Israeli resident, provided the property is sold
within 10 years of the date on which he became an Israeli
resident. Partial exemption will be granted to those who sell
such properties after more than 10 years, depending on the
time frame. A returning resident will also receive this exemption
on an asset purchased during his sojourn abroad as a foreign
resident, if the asset (including rights in a foreign company)
does not grant him direct or indirect rights to an Israeli
asset. Pensions from abroad The amount of tax payable on a
pension from a foreign source, received by an immigrant pursuant
to his work abroad, will be no greater than the tax he would
pay on that pension in the country in which it is paid had
he remained a resident of that country.

This break has no time limit. A pension
that was tax exempt for five years in accordance with the
passive income regulations stated above will be taxable under
this regulation from the sixth year onward. This break on
pensions applies to any pension received by an individual,
salaried or self-employed, in periodic payments, and refers
to pensions stemming from deposits made by the individual
into a foreign pension fund from his wages while working abroad.
In certain cases, an individual who became an Israeli resident
for the first time will be eligible for discounts on taxes
in 2003 and will pay 15 percent tax on interest from a foreign
security, 25 percent tax on dividends from foreign securities,
and 15 percent on real capital gains from the sale of foreign
securities. Groups of individuals eligible for discounts:
l Anyone who turned 60 after January 1, 2003. l Anyone who
turned 60 on January 1, 2003, or before then will be eligible
for the discount as long as he was 50 or older when he became
an Israeli resident for the first time. If he was 40-50 years
old at the time, the discount will apply only to foreign securities
derived from assets outside Israel and owned by him before
his immigration. l Anyone who turned 60 on or before January
1, 2003, as long as 20 years have passed since he became an
Israeli resident for the first time. l Anyone who has been
an Israeli resident for less than 10 years. l Anyone who has
been in Israel for less than 20 years since he first became
an Israeli resident will be eligible for the discount on foreign
securities derived from assets outside of Israel that were
owned by him before his immigration. Accountant Vered Tannenbaum
heads the new immigrant section in the Planning and Policy
Department of the Income Tax Commission; Attorney Nava Namir
heads a team in the International Taxation Department.

From Ha'aretz, Israel, by Vered Tannenbaum
and Nava Namir, 2 December 2003

Taxation of Securities

A summary of the rates of tax on different
kinds of securities under the new taxation rules. 0.5% - transaction
tax on sales of stocks, options, warrants and rights in January-June
2003. 1% - transaction tax on shares in the second half of
2003. The tax will be abolished at the end of the one-year
transition period. 5% - transaction tax on options (Tel Aviv
25 index, Tel Aviv banks index, dollar and euro options) in
the second half of 2003. 10% -tax on nominal capital gains
on securities and nominal interest on shekel investments (short-term
loans, shekel bonds, short-term deposits). The capital gains
tax on the sale of bonds and short-term loans will not be
levied in 2003. From January 2004, the capital gains tax will
be levied on securities issued after May 2003. 15% - tax on
real capital gains, and on CPI- and dollar-linked interest
(CPI or dollar-linked bonds, savings plans, etc.). The capital
gains tax will not be levied on sales of bonds in 2003. From
January 2004, the capital gains tax will be levied on bonds
issued after May 2003. 15% - tax on foreign securities from
2006. Until then, capital gains on these securities will be
taxed at the current rate of 35%. 25% - tax on profits from
off-floor hedging deals (non-marketable options, etc.). A
15% tax will be levied on real profits from TASE-traded options
and contracts. 25% - tax on dividends, the same as the current
rate. Mutual funds. There will be a three-way division as
follows: Funds liable to tax, that pay tax themselves on their
capital gains; Exempt funds, that do not pay tax themselves,
but whose investors pay tax when they sell their units; Mixed
funds, that do not pay tax on securities traded in Israel,
but do pay tax on securities traded overseas. The capital
gains on securities will be calculated according to the base
price, which will be either the purchase price of the share
before the tax reform came into effect, or the share's average
price in the last three trading days in 2002, whichever is
the higher.

From Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il,
Israel, 2 January 2003

Ministry to Introduce
Comprehensive Taxation Scheme in 6 Months

Tehran - Ministry of Economy and Finance
is to discard economic code next year, replacing it with a
new comprehensive taxation scheme in six months for formulation
of taxes in tune with nature of dealings, ceiling of income
and classification of the tax payers. Minister of Economy
and Finance Tahmasb Mazaheri told IRNA on Tuesday that the
policy was a kind of economic reforms for identification of
tax payers, do away with underground economy and raise tax
revenues in proportion to the size of dealings, obviating
any tax evasion emanated from illegal trade of economic codes.
"Unfortunately, certain people were openly selling the
economic codes last year by putting them on ADs and continued
exercise of the practice would create extra costs leading
to the failure to receive taxes thus harming the national
economy," regretted Mazaheri. In the past year, the government
initiated digit codes to all economic entities, including
industry owners, businessmen, traders, private and state-run
companies and the like, that signed contracts for extension
of services and trade of goods in a bid to identify and gauge
exact amount of income and devise proportional taxes. The
strategy led to abuses and illegal trade of the codes later,
prompting authorities to find a sound system for substitution.

From IRNA, Iran, 31 December 2002

Iran To Do Away With
Double Taxation in Trade With Portugal

Lisbon - Visiting Iranian Finance and
Economic Affairs Deputy Minister (International Affairs) Mohammad
Khazaei here on Tuesday voiced Iran's readiness to sign an
agreement with Portugal to avoid double taxation in trade
with Portugal. Khazaei, at a meeting with the Portuguese Secretary
of State for Fiscal Affairs Vasco Valdez to discuss ways and
means of enhancing mutual economic relations, stressed that
Tehran is keen to enhancing customs cooperation and joint
investments with Lisbon. Khazaei told IRNA that in the meeting
both sides agreed to promote investments through establishment
of joint committees and finalize an agreement to this effect.
The director of the Iranian Investments Organization further
said that he had briefed Valdez on the advantages of investing
in the Islamic Republic, and that he had voiced Tehran's readiness
to host mutual talks between Iranian and Portuguese investors
and industrialists toward this end. Khazaei said Valdez welcomed
Iran's proposal to expand bilateral economic ties and announced
Lisbon's readiness to expedite development of these ties.
Khazaei is visiting Portugal as part of the entourage of Iranian
Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi, who arrived here on Tuesday
for talks on issues of mutual interest.

From IRNA, Iran, 8 January 2003

White House to Push on Domestic
Agenda

As President George W. Bush Tuesday
unveils his economic stimulus package, the administration
wants Congress to rein in domestic spending as it gears up
for what some critics say will be a costly war with Iraq.
The president in the past two months has refocused his attention
from the war on terrorism back towards the ailing U.S. economy,
which has shown few signs of recovery. The Bush White House
has an ambitious domestic agenda whose funding may be complicated
by the pending conflict with Iraq, which has an uncertain
price tag. The White House was unwilling to discuss how much
it believes a potential war with Iraq could cost, though former
Bush economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey said the price tag
could top $200 billion. White House Budget Office Director
Mitch Daniels put the cost somewhere between $50 billion and
$60 billion. The Congressional Budget Office's estimated the
cost of deploying troops to the Gulf would be between $9 billion
and $13 billion, and that prosecuting the war would cost between
$6 billion and $9 billion a month. The cost of an occupation
following combat operations would vary from about $1 billion
to $4 billion a month, the CBO said. "Well, clearly,
anything dealing with Iraq is such a hypothetical, I'm not
in a position to address what a potential cost could or could
not be. But regardless of any decisions that are made on Iraq,
the economy needs a boost," said White House Press secretary
Ari Fleischer on Monday. Historically, Bush could face a parallel
with the administration of President Lyndon Johnson, who in
the 1960s fought both the war in Vietnam and a war on poverty
at home. Brookings Institution Senior Fellow William Gale
said Johnson likely overstressed the federal budget by doing
so. The White House said Monday that the president plans to
ask the U.S. Congress to hold the line on spending. Congress
will take up the appropriations bill in the next two weeks
that was left unfinished when the 107th Congress adjourned.
"They've already agreed on an aggregate cap of $750 billion
for all domestic discretionary spending for the 11 remaining
appropriation bills," Fleischer said. "So the president
is encouraged by the fact that they have already agreed to
a cap that the administration supports for the upcoming appropriation
cycle for 2003."

The Congressional Budget Office estimated
a $157 billion federal budget deficit in 2002, the result
of a slump in tax revenues coupled with double-digit spending
growth. The CBO predicted a $147 billion deficit in 2003.
"Our administration is concerned about deficits, and
the way they deal with deficits is you want to control spending.
And I hope Congress lives up to their words," said Bush
on Monday after a meeting with members of his Cabinet. "When
they talk about deficits, they can join us in making sure
we don't overspend." "The president's approach is
that what creates surpluses in our country and in our government's
coffers is growth, that without growth, there are deficits,"
Fleischer said. "In times of growth, we have surpluses.
And that's what history has shown. And so the current deficit
is caused as a result of the recession." The Bush White
House said it remained committed to approval of its core domestic
items that were the hallmark of the president's 2000 campaign.
Most of the measures were stalled in the Democratically controlled
U.S. Senate in the last session. Those items are a prescription
drugs program, Medicare reform, Social Security reform, education
reform and a ban on cloning. Bush's request to Congress comes
as he is set to announce his economic stimulus package during
a speech at the Chicago Economics Club on Tuesday, the same
day the Republican-controlled 108th Congress convenes. The
plan will likely include aid for cash-poor states, tax incentives
for businesses, expanded unemployment benefits and acceleration
of the president's tax cuts approved last year. Reports estimate
the cost of the plan at between $300 billion and $600 billion
over the next decade. Democrats offered up an alternative
plan which seeks 26 additional weeks of unemployment benefits
for the jobless, refundable income tax rebates of up to $300
per person or $600 per working couple and increased aid for
cash-strapped states. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities
said the nation already faces tremendous long-term fiscal
challenges.

The retirement of baby boomers, rising
health care costs and tax cuts enacted in 2001 if made permanent
will exert tremendous pressure on budget, the group said.
On prescription drugs for seniors, the White House on Monday
told United Press International that Bush remains committed
to passage of a strong bill that would provide relief for
seniors. Deputy Press Secretary Scott McClellan said Bush
wants seniors to have more choice while limiting out-of-pocket
costs. Republicans backed a bill in the last session with
an estimated $340 billion price tag that would have provided
a government-administered program with drug subsidies for
low-income beneficiaries. The House had passed a drug bill
that would have cost $320 billion over 10 years and would
have been administered by private drug companies. On Social
Security, the White House said Bush "remained committed"
to reforming the decades-old entitlement system. Bush has
supported giving younger workers the option of placing a portion
of their Social Security into stocks or mutual fund accounts.
The Bush White House declined to go into detail about the
administration's efforts to begin revamping the system. Political
analysts believe Bush has opted to delay reforming Social
Security until 2004 because it had essentially become a political
albatross. Privatizing Social Security would have little support
among an American public skittish about the stock market in
the wake of declining stock values and a slew of corporate
scandals in 2002, experts said. On education Bush said Saturday
that he would seek an additional $1 billion for the Title
I program in the 2004 budget, bringing the funding for the
program up to $12.3 billion. He also said he would seek more
than $1.1 billion for federal reading programs, up $75 million
from the 2002 budget. McClellan said education reform has
seen historic funding increases under Bush, more than 43 percent
since 2000 while implementing bold reforms. The state governments,
however, are upset over what they consider a lack of funding
for student testing, teacher quality and performance enhancements.
The White House also said Bush wants the new Congress to act
quickly to ban cloning as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
investigates claims by a company that it has produced the
first cloned human infant.

From United Press International, by Kathy
A. Gambrell, 7 January 2003

Bush Plans to End Dividend
Taxation

Move to broadly alter investing - The
elimination of taxation on corporate dividends, as President
Bush was expected to propose Monday, could provoke sweeping
changes in the way companies raise money and in the ways Americans
and investors based overseas invest their money in U.S. companies.
It could make American corporations less likely to go broke
in bad times, while at the same time making it more expensive
for states and cities to borrow money. Wall Street could see
a boom in fees as companies rush to issue preferred stock,
a relatively obscure security that could become the most popular
way for many companies to raise money from investors. Overseas-based
investors might find American shares less attractive as a
result of the tax change, particularly if they could not take
advantage of the tax breaks under their countries' tax laws.
They could see American stocks trading at prices that reflect
tax advantages not available to them. For investors in the
United States, the saving would be likely to accrue only to
those who held their stocks in taxable accounts, as opposed
to retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and Individual Retirement
Accounts. That could make such retirement accounts less popular,
or at a minimum, make investors less likely to use them for
their stock investments. Tax-sensitive individual investors
in the United States have long purchased municipal bonds,
issued by state and local governments, because interest on
the bonds was exempt from federal income tax, and often from
state income tax as well. "The principal attraction of
muni bonds is that the interest income is exempt," said
Robert Willens, a tax analyst at Lehman Brothers. "If
dividends were exempt, and you also had the potential of capital
gains, some stocks would look a lot more attractive than muni
bonds."

The existence of another investment
that offers tax-free income would likely mean that muni-bond
issuers would have to pay higher interest rates when they
borrowed money. Another impact on many states would stem from
the fact that their income tax laws follow the federal statute.
Thus the states would lose tax revenues from investors who
received dividends, increasing the budget pressures on the
states. President Bush is expected to propose increased federal
aid for state governments, which would offset that impact
to some extent. Because stock dividends would become more
attractive to investors, all interest income could become
somewhat less attractive. That could mean that investors will
demand higher rates than they otherwise would on everything
from savings accounts to corporate bonds and even Treasury
bonds. But those impacts would be relatively small, and could
be overwhelmed by other trends in the economy. The proposed
elimination of all taxes on dividends goes well beyond what
had been expected, and helped to send U.S. stock prices up
Monday, with some of the largest gains coming among companies
that pay relatively high dividends. Interviews with several
tax experts Monday also indicated that the legislation, if
it is approved by Congress, will have to address issues concerning
extraordinary dividends and holding periods to get the dividend
income tax free. Corporations now pay a low tax rate on dividends
received from other companies, a fact that led to a series
of tax strategies that Congress legislated against. "I
expect these laws to have the various anti-abuse provisions
in them, as they do now for corporations," said Robert
Gordon, the president of 21st Securities, which specializes
in tax strategies for investors. "If they don't, there
will be some great opportunities from this, but I can't believe
the government will be that obtuse."

Congress may also have to consider
what to do about investors who have borrowed money - whether
through margin accounts or otherwise - to buy or hold shares
that pay dividends that are now to become tax-free. Currently
the interest on such loans can be tax deductible, but that
probably would change. A related issue concerns capital gains
and losses. "A lot will depend on how the proposal deals
with extraordinary dividends," said David Hariton, a
tax partner at Sullivan and Cromwell, a large law firm, referring
to large dividends, defined as being equal to or greater than
10 percent of a share's value. Hariton said that without rules
to prevent it, "a shareholder could buy stock, receive
a large tax-free dividend, and then sell the stock for a capital
loss that offsets a capital gain." Rules that prevent
companies from doing such things "might have to be extended
to the individual level," he said. Dividends are defined
as money paid to shareholders by companies from their profits.
Shareholders include holders of common stocks and of preferred
stocks. The investment advantages of common stocks that pay
dividends would be increased, but not enough to fundamentally
alter the investment climate. High-dividend paying stocks
would be more attractive, but the most important investment
criterion would continue to be the outlook for the company's
profits. Preferred stocks, at their simplest level, promise
the investor a certain payment every year, just as a bond
does. Currently preferred stocks have relatively little appeal
to most individual investors.

From International Herald Tribune, France,
by Floyd Norris, 7 January 2003

Bush Targets Dividend
Taxation

Chicago - President Bush yesterday
called for a halt to the double taxation of dividend income,
half of which goes to senior citizens, as part of a sweeping,
$670 billion package to stimulate the economy. "I proposed
a bold plan because the need for this plan is urgent,"
Mr. Bush told the Economic Club of Chicago. "And I urge
the Congress to act swiftly and pass this bill." The
president's plan includes an extension of unemployment benefits
and an acceleration of Mr. Bush's 2001 tax cuts, allowing
92 million taxpayers to keep an average of $1,083 more of
their income this year. It also raises the child tax credit
to $1,000 from $600 and eliminates the so-called marriage
penalty by increasing the standard deduction for couples to
twice that for single filers. Democrats called the bill a
giveaway to the rich. They said their own economic stimulus
package - about one-fifth the size of the president's - is
less likely to exacerbate deficits. "He's speaking the
rhetoric working Americans are so eager to hear but offering
only words to distract from his big, new tax breaks for the
wealthiest Americans," said Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry,
a Democratic presidential hopeful. The biggest component of
the package by far entails ending double taxation of dividends,
a move estimated as being worth $364 billion over 10 years
to taxpayers. Seeking to blunt Democratic arguments that the
cut is a sop to the wealthy, Mr. Bush said it will help sustain
a lot of ordinary senior citizens. He said even Americans
who do not receive dividends will benefit because the cut
will invigorate the stock market and create jobs, two lagging
components of an otherwise growing economy. "As it is
now, many investments are taxed not once, but twice,"
the president said. "First, the IRS taxes the company
who owns the profit. Then it taxes the investors who received
the profits as dividends. "The result of this double
taxation is that for all the profit a company earns, shareholders
who receive dividends keep as little as 40 cents on the dollar.
"Double taxation is bad for our economy," he said.
"Double taxation is wrong. Double taxation falls especially
hard on retired people."

Emboldened by the Republican takeover
of the Senate, which was sworn in yesterday, Mr. Bush demanded
immediate enactment of many aspects of his 2001 tax cuts,
which were originally scheduled to phase in over a decade.
For example, he called for acceleration of an income-tax cut
scheduled for 2006. It would be retroactive to Jan. 1. "If
tax relief is good enough for Americans three years from now,
it is good enough for Americans today," he said, drawing
applause from 2,300 business leaders. "By speeding up
the income-tax cuts, we will speed up economic recovery and
the pace of job creation." But Mr. Bush was not willing
to speed up elimination of the death tax, which is scheduled
to linger until 2010. Asked by The Washington Times why this
aspect of the 2001 Bush tax cut is not "good enough for
Americans today," a senior White House official said
Mr. Bush had to prioritize his list of measures to stimulate
the economy. Dozens of Democrats helped pass the 2001 Bush
tax cut, but they appeared determined to water down the new
economic-stimulus package in the Senate, where Republicans
claimed their one-vote majority yesterday. The House, which
has been controlled by the GOP for all of Mr. Bush's presidency,
is expected to pass virtually every aspect of the new package.
"My key concern is twofold," said Senate Minority
Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota. "There is no stimulus
in the stimulus plan, and secondly it is grossly unfair. "Clearly,
what the president has laid out today is wrong," he said.
The Democrats' $100 billion stimulus package includes rebates
of $300 per person or $600 per working couple this year, tax
cuts on equipment purchases for small businesses and unemployment
assistance. It does not cut taxes on stockholders.

The White House does not expect to
enact 100 percent of yesterday's package, especially with
the 2004 presidential race already heating up and a crowded
field of Democratic challengers increasing their rhetoric
against Mr. Bush. That's one reason why Mr. Bush decided last
month to propose a larger package than he had been contemplating,
when he planned to merely reduce the double taxation of dividends.
"Americans today are paying about a third of their income
in taxes," the president said. "All of this puts
pressure on [a] family budget and therefore clouds our economic
future." Mr. Bush also proposed to help small businesses
by allowing them to write off equipment purchases of up to
$75,000, triple the current limit. And he called for a retroactive
extension of unemployment benefits that ran out Dec. 28. Because
the Democrats also called for such an extension - as well
as smaller tax breaks for businesses - White House officials
do not expect many Americans to view the competing plans as
opposites. They consider it a measure of Mr. Bush's influence
that Democrats who once talked of rolling back the earlier
tax cuts are now pushing cuts of their own. Mr. Bush also
emphasized that the economy began to decline while Bill Clinton
was president and has since recovered from one of the shortest
and shallowest recessions in history. In an effort to pre-empt
Democratic criticism, he also said his economic stimulus plan
will reduce deficits, not enlarge them. And he tried to put
the onus on Democrats by saying they can keep deficits down
by reining in spending. "The Congress must also understand
this: The American people deserve and expect spending discipline
in Washington, D.C.," he said. "With spending discipline
and with pro-growth policies, we will expand the economy and
help bring down this deficit."

From Washington Times, DC, by Bill Sammon,
8 January 2003

Senators Support Telecom
Tax Reform

Utah senators gave initial approval
Wednesday to legislation that would shift some of the local
tax burden from residential phone customers to cell phone
users. The Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee unanimously
advanced Senate Bill 23, which would grant authority and set
limits on local telecommunciations taxes. Most cell phone
users in Utah cities could see a hike in their local taxes
under the plan, while customers with basic traditional phone
service could see decreases. The bill carries a delayed effective
date of July 1, 2004. "You understand, this is not the
state imposing a tax," said sponsoring Sen. Curt Bramble,
R-Provo. "This is trying to bring tax equity to telecommunications
at the municipal level." Bramble is chairman of the committee
that endorsed the measure on a 5-0 vote. SB23 is the product
of two years of negotiations between industry and cities.
Representatives from both groups testified Wednesday in support
of the bill, which they said was a good-faith compromise effort
to treat phone customers equally, regardless of whether they
used wireless or hard-wired equipment. Consumer groups were
not part of the task force working on the issue but did have
opportunity to provide input. Bramble, who said he is unaware
of organized opposition to the bill, predicted it would pass
the Senate and House without many bumps. For years, cell phone
customers escaped the municipal franchise tax imposed on residential
and business consumers with land-line phones.

That started to change in the late
1990s, when some cities began imposing taxes on the monthly
bills of cell phone users. Worried that taxes on cell phones
would develop without a consistent policy, the Legislature
capped the tax at $1 per month. Under SB23, the tax would
change to a flat rate of up to 4 percent, meaning the tax
could double to $2 for consumers with monthly plans costing
$50. Land-line phone owners, meantime, would see the maximum
franchise tax rate decrease from the current 6 percent to
4 percent. Other changes in the law expands the tax for phone-service
options, which could offset some of that drop. Generally,
those with basic land-line service would see a tax break.
"We're not pretending that it's revenue neutral as to
every consumer," said Roger Tew, lobbyist for the Utah
League of Cities and Towns. "But there is a strong feeling
that all telecommunication should be treated equally as far
as municipal tax policy." Unaddressed by the legislation
is the different tax treatment of phone customers in unincorporated
county communities. Counties do not have power to levy the
franchise tax, and thus phone customers escape the levy entirely.
The cell phone tax is imposed based on a customer's billing
address. Bramble said the discrepancy between county and city
taxation of phone customers needs to be dealt with by future
legislation.

From Salt Lake Tribune, UT, 23 January 2003

California Changes
Mind on Online Sales Tax

Pay up. Everything's changed - A Report
in today's Mercury News said that governor Gray Davis has
changes his mind about making California online firms pay
sales tax. That's a U-turn, reports the paper, forced by a
budget shortfall of $34.6 billion, and a reversal of his previous
view on tax. He's quoted as being "adamantly" against
an Internet tax plan but now it looks that realities have
scratched the surface of his diamond-like resistance to such
plans. A bill that was kicked out by Davis three years ago
meant any company that had bricks and mortar in California
should charge for goods bought online by citizens of the state.
But the bill faces deep opposition by outfits such as the
American Electronic Association, which claims it would put
its Californian members at a disadvantage.

The strategic importance of the Refineries,
Petrochemicals, Depots and Products Pipelines to the transformation
of the industrial base of the Nigeria economy must be given
due recognition in policy determination and or shift. Since
the electricity and energy sector could not guarantee steady
power supply, power back up through oil and gas products from
the petroleum sector has been highly supportive to generate
electricity and water, and forestall low capacity utilization
in industry and business recession. Privatization as being
canvassed is an offshoot of globalization, which lays more
emphasis on contract and casual staffing, job expansion rather
than promoting gainful employment. This is happening on the
heels of high rate of graduate unemployment and ineffective
poverty alleviation measures. The so-called capable Nigerians
and foreign technical partners that have signified interest
in taking over the companies so far privatized have only shown
concerns for their economic gain without demonstrating the
political will to make socioeconomic impact for national interest
and development. Instead of making "man- the center of
development, their preoccupation is- undue money making. The
privatization of African Petroleum Plc, Unipetrol Nigeria
Plc, and National Oil and Chemical Marketing Company of Nigeria
Plc left sour taste in the mouth of our members. Majority
of our members lost their jobs in the process without just
cause*o New staff engaged to replace them were employed through
labour contractors with anti -labour pre-condi tions* The
10% Share of privatized companies reserved for workers were
sold to increase the core investor's participation. The workers
lost all round.* The provision in the law on privatization,
which prescribe that no core investor should own more than
40% equity was breached as some even have up to 70% now and
run the companies as personal estate or as Sole Administrator.

In actual fact, economic revolution
cannot be realized without proper strength to compete in the
global and enlarged regional markets largely dominated by
the highly and technological advanced multi-national and mega
corporations that have the mastery and intrigue in stagnating
and retarding the less develop and developing countries through
indirect infiltration of international finance clubs. This
strength can only be strategically acquired through Nigerianization.
The super powers have continued to retard economies to perpetual
status of net-importer of economic and industrial goods, by
collapsing the technology that has supported their pace of
development and their backward integration objective. If Nigeria
allowed the NNPC privatization, the Refineries, Petrochemicals
and Product Pipelines would be acquired and collapsed abruptly
as scraps to the advantages of newly set-up ones while shortfalls
will be imported from the home countries of the operators.
The consequence can only be imagined. The existence of NNPC
as wholly owned and managed Nigerian corporation has been
able to give Nigerians the opportunity to demonstrate potentials
and competence to the fullest in the oil industry. If the
thrust of our social and economic policy is to promote and
enhance the development of indigenous manpower and entrepreneur,
then steps must be aligned to that direction. Nigeria cannot
make a breakthrough unless we develop a guided socioeconomic
secrecy through aggressive initiative by local manpower. Our
Oil industry, especially the downstream sector is the feasible
sources to create an upset to compel the acceptance of our
economy in the league of developing nation. Present Status
of NNPC:* NNPC no longer depends on Government subvention.
With persistent drive and aggressiveness, NNPC now pays its
26 billion Naira per month for its allocation of crude at
the international price of $1 8 per barrel.

The local refineries utilize part of
the crude with the existing plant capacity utilization, while
the balance is sent out to other refineries to supplement
local shortfalls. The current situation in NNPC is a symptom
of very hopeful national self-reliance that should be encouraged.
The management of NNPC had since 1999 been showing that NNPC
has a lot of potentials and opportunities to embark and implement
creative business polices to widen its revenue base and to
prepare the corporation for the challenges ahead.*The NNPC
has also been rendering financial assistance running into
millions of dollars to the Federal Government as regards The
loan for government's equity share in a South African sugar
company, The loan for oil exploration to the Sao Tome and
Principe etc.*Further to its self-sufficiency, NNPC has consistently
maintained its philosophy as a worthy supporter of public
good. The Corporation's donation of NlOO million to victims
of Lagos Bomb Explosion Appeal Fund, the relief materials
to victims of Kaduna riots, is just a tip. The All Nigeria
Secondary School Quiz Competition that culminated into award
of university scholarship to students is also notable.* NNPC
has since 1999 ensured improvement in the regularity of Turn
Around Maintenance of the four (4) 445,000 bpd nation's refineries.
Apart from the Port Harcourt Refinery II with 150,000 bpd,
the other 3 ageing refineries is scheduled to be overhauled
and rejuvenated to achieve a substantial capacity utilization
in order to increase local production and reduce import. The
Socio Economic and Political Benefits of NNPC - The Last 3
years: Has ensured steady supplies and availability, of petroleum
products. Has ensured that consumers are not compelled to
pay above a reasonable economic rate. Has encouraged genuine
Nigerians who have the means and the know-how to come into
the business so as to further promote true Nigerianization,
galvanize employment and income generation capacity and as
a poverty reduction strategy.

Has eliminated or minimized corruption
and inefficiency hitherto experienced in the corporation during
Military regime. Has improved the quality of life, business
approach and value systems. Has demonstrated better organizational
reforms and symptoms of recovery and a true path to prosperity.
Our no prejudice perception, evaluation and assessment of
the performance of NNPC and its subsidiaries in the last three
years are based on the public responses to our surveys. The
inference drawn shown that NNPC has comparatively improved
public confidence in the economy and the polity in relation
to the performance in other government corporation and parastals.
This has considerably enhanced the public rating of the current
civilian administration. NNPC has indeed served as a major
factor for ensuring cohesion and national unity. Conclusion
and Recommendations Privatization of NNPC Refineries and other
Subsidiaries. We strongly oppose and vow to resist vehemently
the ongoing attempt by the Federal Government through the
Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) to privatize the country's
refineries and other NNPC subsidiaries. We also note that
the government plan if not checked will lead to a massive
job losses, arbitrary price increases of petroleum products,
mortgaging of our national and strategic assets, loss of revenue,
and putting our economic mainstay in the hands of a few individuals
who are masquerading for foreign neo-imperialists with the
attendants implication on national security. It is the height
of insensitivity and unpatriotism to sell our entire viable
oil corporation whereas other oil producing nations are strengthening
theirs to effectively compete with privately own companies.
Stories from other countries Abroad: India owns refineries
completely managed by a National Company Integrated Oil Company,
independent and devoid of government interference; others
are*SASOL (South Africa).

Thirty-nine US Congressmen are up in
arms against the privatization of urban water supply in Ghana.
In a letter to US Secretary to the Treasury, the Congressmen
said "most Ghanaians earn less than $2 a day and the
rising cost of water forces families to make impossible trade
offs between purchasing food, clothing, medicine, paying school
fees, or buying a bucket of water". The letter urged
the US Treasury Secretary to instruct the Executive Directors
of the IMF and the World Bank to oppose the current "Private
Sector Participation" proposal being promoted for the
urban water supply in Ghana. "We also urge you to instruct
the US Executive Directors to oppose loan conditions in Ghana
mandating increased cost recovery for water. These conditions
have already raised the price of water for the poor in Ghana.
Ghana should receive loans that do not have onerous conditions".
The Congressmen reminded the Treasury Secretary of a statement
he made at the Global Millennium Water initiative symposium
that "water is life. Nothing is as essential or as fundamental
to us as water" but said "unfortunately we believe
that the IMF and World Bank policies in Ghana have in fact
been counterproductive to that goal. Clean and affordable
water is becoming less accessible for the vast majority of
Ghanaians".

From GhanaWeb, 10 January 2003

Postal Service Sees First Step in
Privatization

MOTC's Directorate General of Posts
formally becomes Chunghwa Post Corporation Limited - Taiwan's
Directorate General of Posts under the Ministry of Transportation
and Communications was yesterday formally transformed into
a state-owned firm, Chunghwa Post Corporation Limited. This
was done in line with the government's efforts to privatize
public enterprises in order to upgrade operational efficiency.
Tsai Tui, MOTC Executive Vice-Minister stated at an inaugural
ceremony that the restructuring of the organization would
not affect the rights of customers who patronized that post
office prior to the restructuring. The restructuring integrates
the former 27 units of the Directorate General of Posts into
15. The MOTC has also offered preferential pension terms encouraging
senior employees to retire or resign voluntarily to trim the
postal staff. However, approximately 300 members of the postal
labor union expressed concerns about their interests and rights
after the restructuring by staging a demonstration yesterday
in front of the building that housed the former Directorate
General of Post on Chin Shan South Road. But Tsai assured
postal workers that their rights and interests would not be
compromised in the reform process. He said that it was clear
from the placards at the demonstration that the MOTC was being
taken to task, but the protestors should ask themselves whether
or not their goals were same as the MOTC's. He urged the demonstrators
to consolidate their efforts to make the new firm better and
to back the goal of a brighter future for the company by working
hand-in-hand with the new management. Citing the success story
of Chunghwa Telecom Corp.'s restructuring as an example, Tsai
said the transformation will benefit the postal service and
its staff in the long run. "The new company will have
greater freedom and flexibility in personnel management, procurement
and business operations. It will be able to offer many new
services at cheaper costs. In the long run, the transformation
will be a boon," he said. Meanwhile, the MOTC has unveiled
a package of regulations for recruiting professional managers
from the private sector to head Chunghwa Post Corporation.
Chang Chia-juch, MOTC administrative vice minister will serve
concurrently as chairman of Chunghwa Post for the time being.

From eTaiwan News, Taiwan, by Taijing Wu,
2 December 2003

Roh's Team Cautions
On Privatization

Seoul - The transition committee for
South Korea's president-elect Roh Moo-hyun hopes to take a
"cautious and flexible" approach toward the privatization
of key transport and utility companies, the JoongAng Ilbo
reports. "Forcing privatization to meet self-imposed
deadlines won't do any good as these companies provide public
services," an unnamed official at the transition committee
is quoted as saying. The committee's view would be at odds
with that of the current administration, which has so far
emphasized speedy privatization of state-run companies, the
newspaper says. The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy
plans to sell in the first half one of Korea Electric Power
Corp.'s (KEP) five power generation units, set to be sold
as part of the government's privatization program, it reports.
Newspaper Web site: http://www.joins.com - By So-Eui Rhee,
Dow Jones Newswires; 822-732-2165; so-eui.rhee@dowjones.com

From Yahoo News, 7 January 2003

Ministry Submits Info
In Indian HPCL Privatization Review -PTI

India's disinvestment ministry has
made a submission to Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee's legal
review of the privatization of Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (P.HPE),
news agency Press Trust of India said Tuesday. Disinvestment
Minister Arun Shourie said his ministry had submitted information
to Sorabjee, who is studying the planned privatization of
the state-run oil company, the report said. Shourie didn't
say when Sorabjee's legal view is expected to be given. The
investigation comes after some lawmakers objected to the privatization
on the grounds it was acquired and nationalized through an
act of parliament in the 1970s and mustn't be sold without
amending the act. Separately, regarding the privatization
of Engineers India Ltd. (P.ENI), Shourie said its privatization
hasn't been deferred but may be delayed, PTI said. Disinvestment
Ministry officials have said Engineers India can't be privatized
ahead of HPCL and Bharat Petroleum Corp. (P.BPE), as it could
be stripped of all its contracts that mainly come from government-owned
oil companies. On the stalled disinvestment of another major
company, National Aluminium Co. (P.NAL), PTI quoted Shourie
saying, "it is where it was." Due-diligence from
Nalco came to a halt in October when Nalco's workers prevented
a body of officials from one interested company from entering
their plants in the southeastern state of Orissa. -By Dow
Jones Newswires; +91-11-2461 9427; djn.in@dowjones.com

From Yahoo News, 7 January 2003

Muthiah Advises Government
To Go Slow On Corporate Governance

New Delhi - Federation of Indian Chambers
of Commerce and Industry's (Ficci) new president AC Muthiah
has advised the government to go slow on the implementation
of corporate governance code and criticised it for selling
off the profitable public sector undertakings (PSUs). Talking
to FE, Mr. Muthiah said the government should junk the strategic
sale method for disinvesting profit-making PSUs and instead
adopt the public offer route. On the stricter norms for corporate
governance, he said: "Our business environment is not
as mature as that of the US. We should go slow on this or
else it would be difficult to attract professional and good
independent directors in the board." The creation of
Serious Fraud Office (SFO) will complicate business environment
and create a "fear psychosis", he said adding he
would present his disinvestment formula to Ficci's steering
committee for endorsement. "Let us not make too much
of corporate governance. In the Indian context, there is a
plethora of investigative and regulatory bodies and disclosure
requirements end up becoming a recipe for harassment. We are
a developing country and there should not be a rush for proto-typing
the US regulations. In fact, if you have too stringent regulations
company boards will not get competent people to become independent
directors," he added. Stating that government must get
out of "the business of managing business," Mr.
Muthiah said: "Oil PSUs like ONGC, HPCL, and BPCL are
valued assets. The government should off-load its stake through
public-offer and not through strategic sale. The strategy
of strategic sale of these jewels will only lead to creation
of monopolies." "The strategic sale methodology
should be reserved only for loss making PSUs," he said.
Business synergies like merger and acquisition (M&A) would
drive strategic sale of loss-making PSUs, he added, citing
the case of Paradeep Phosphates Ltd. Stating that the Indian
economy was robust, Mr. Muthiah said the main concern was
the fiscal deficit and the proposed "Fiscal Responsibility
Act" must be enforced. Ficci will press for investment
allowance, cut in corporate tax and withdrawal of maximum
alternate tax (MAT) and dividend tax to boost the industrial
growth, he said.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's efforts to
enhance corporate governance are beginning to win greater
recognition and a foreign fund management company has regretted
its decision to pull out from the country, Deputy Prime Minister
Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said Tuesday. The company,
a major pension fund from California, had admitted that it
was wrong in its assessment of Malaysia in the past, he said
at the Malaysian Business Corporate Governance Award 2002
presentation here. "They (pension fund managers) contended
that their earlier decision to downgrade the Malaysian capital
market was done in ignorance," he said. His speech was
read out by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister,
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin. Abdullah said,"And, of course,
more recently, the IMF (International Monetary Fund) in its
review of Malaysia admitted that our decision to peg the ringgit
was right and had contributed to our stability. "How
did all these august bodies manage to get it so wrong? It
is easy to blame it on pure and simple ignorance." He
called on Corporate Malaysia to be on guard against those
who, in their quest for profits, took advantage of the situation
without considering whether their actions could wreak havoc
on a nation's economy. "We must therefore be pro-active,
do all we can to tell the world that our corporate culture
is different from theirs," he said. Abdullah pointed
out the financial scandals that had rocked the United States
and Europe over the past 18 months were proof that no one
region had "a monopoly" on dishonest corporate behaviour.
Turning to Malaysia, he said amendments were made with regards
to the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's (KLSE) rules governing
the conduct of listed companies and moves were taken to enforce
them. He cited that the KLSE had taken action against 207
companies for breaching its listing requirements from July
1, 2001 to June 30, 2002. "Those who violate the laws
will continue to be hauled up and in the event of criminal
breaches, should be prosecuted without fear or favour,"
he stressed.

From Bernama, Malaysia, 14 January 2003

Pillay Urges GLCs to
Improve Governance

Both spirit and letter of corporate
governance code should be observed, he says - Government linked
companies (GLCs) often win awards for their annual reports
but their corporate and share performance are not always superior,
said Singapore Exchange (SGX) chairman J Y Pillay last night.
Speaking at the 29th Annual Report Awards (ARA) dinner, Mr.
Pillay, also chairman of the Council on Corporate Disclosure
and Governance (CCDG), was driving home the point that companies
need to go beyond merely observing rules and codes or publishing
a transparent annual report to examining their governance
practices closely. 'While GLCs figure prominently in ARA awards,
I have not seen conclusive evidence that their performance
as companies, or the price of their shares, with some notable
exceptions, is decidedly superior. Indeed, I have come across
reports that argue otherwise,' he said. 'I am not sure that
the share-price performance may be attributed to predatory,
short-term traders, distorting fundamental values by riding
on the quarterly-reporting system. Rather, listed companies
should closely examine their governance practices to ensure
that both the spirit and letter of the code of corporate governance
is observed.' This year's best annual report award for main
board companies was again won by a GLC, Keppel Land. In fact,
another GLC, DBS Land (which in 2000 merged with Pidemco to
become CapitaLand) won the award so many times that it was
barred from contention after 1998. This has been lifted and
CapitaLand won a commendation award this year.

Inter-Roller Engineering won the award
for Sesdaq companies while the Agri-food & Veterinary
Authority of Singapore and Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore
were joint winners for the statutory board category. But Mr.
Pillay pointed out that good annual reports are just one aspect
of corporate governance. 'We should be careful in drawing
inferences from the ARA competition. Annual reports are, undoubtedly,
a vital source of information to shareholders, employees and
the market. They are an important link in the chain of corporate
governance. But one event in the governance calendar does
not constitute the sum and substance of corporate governance.'
Good corporate governance will bring benefits to companies
over time, although there is no convincing empirical evidence
to show that it will boost stock prices, he said. 'Good governance
forces companies to open up, become less bureaucratic, spark
fresh ideas, and to execute initiatives decisively. Companies
become more productive, thereby benefiting their employees,
shareholders, customers and themselves.' Mr. Pillay also called
for a broad culture of corporate governance to take root.
'Corporate governance is not just a matter of observing the
codes and rules.

Good governance has to seep into the
culture of society, the marketplace, and businesses.' Of the
459 eligible companies listed on the SGX, a total of 422 annual
reports or 91.9 per cent were considered for preliminary screening
for the latest ARA competition. Of these, 25 or 5.9 per cent
were shortlisted. Nineteen were from the main board while
six were from Sesdaq. Many of the shortlisted companies, however,
were the same ones as previous years, observed Chew Heng Ching,
chairman of this year's ARA committee and president of the
Singapore Institute of Directors. The level of non-mandatory
disclosures for Sesdaq companies remains markedly behind those
on the main board. Mr. Chew also called for annual reports
to provide more detailed remuneration disclosure of directors
and key employees such as the CEO and the CFO beyond the requirements
of the SGX, explanations for key performance indicators and
other statistics, as well as more discussion on risk management
strategies and corporate social responsibilities and environmental
initiatives. 'Investor relations disclosures remain inadequate.
Many companies do hold investor meetings and disseminate information
to groups of analysts.' 'However, most companies shy away
from disclosing these activities from the investing public
at large and their shareholders in particular. Such disclosures
would afford investors a better insight into the attitudes
of management with regards to or in connection with transparency,'
he added.

From Business Times, Singapore, by Wong
Wei Kong, 16 January 2003

Post office Marks Privatization
with Art Contest, Stamp Issues

The Chunghwa Post Co. Ltd. recently
held an art contest for kids and an exhibition of the winning
paintings to encourage an appreciation for fine arts on the
part of Taiwan's younger generation and promote the new corporation
to the general public. The state-run Directorate General of
Posts became a corporation Jan. 1 and was renamed Chunghwa
Post. One of the activities held to publicize its new status,
the "Little Sun" art contest was an opportunity
for children to show off their creativity by painting scenes
set in Taipei's Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Taichung's
Feng Le Park or the Lotus Pond in Kaohsiung's Tsoying area.
More than 20,000 paintings were entered in the contest and
arranged in categories based on the young artists' education
level. Judges selected 1,260 paintings for awards and chose
462 of these for display on the sixth floor of Taipei's Chinese
Postal Museum, where the public can enjoy them until Feb.
16. In addition to the winning paintings, visitors to the
museum can also peruse souvenirs for postal life insurance
on the same floor, which is the museum's special exhibition
hall. The museum opened in 1964 at its original location in
Taipei County's Hsintien. Since 1984, however, its home has
been a 10-story building in Taipei City, with the first seven
floors open to the public. The first floor houses the entrance
hall and an operating post office. The seventh floor contains
a postal library. Each floor, from the second to the sixth,
is used as an exhibition hall where interested visitors can
come to learn about the history of postal services in Taiwan,
China and the world. These floors house two history galleries,
a postal-service gallery and a philatelic gallery and boast
artifacts dating back to the time of Liu Ming-chuan (1836-1896).
Liu was stationed in Taiwan from 1885 to 1891, during the
aftermath of the Sino-French War - a conflict between the
two powers over what is now Vietnam. As Taiwan's first provincial
governor, he developed transportation, promoted agriculture,
built schools and, in 1888, established the Directorate General
of Posts in Taipei. Prior to this, Taiwan's postal system
was divided into official deliveries and private ones.

The government mail-delivery system
was established in Tainan in 1877 and employed stamps carved
out of huge wooden blocks. Liu rearranged the previous system
and set up stations at each crucial stop on the transportation
line. In 1895, after China ceded the island to Japan, Taiwan
was home to an historic yet short-lived experiment in democracy
when the local inhabitants objected and proclaimed an independent
republic. Although the republic lasted just 150 days before
the rebellion was put down by Japanese troops, the young nation
had time to issue eight locally printed stamps. The so-called
Taiwan Republic, which was also known as the Taiwan Democracy
or Black Flag Republic adopted as its emblem a seated tiger,
and this is the main feature distinguishing the stamps. For
this reason, they are known in Taiwan as tiger stamps, whereas
Western philatelists know them simply as the Black Flag Republic
issues. The first stamp issue took place in July of that year,
with the second and third in September. They can also be distinguished
by the papermaker's name, Dorling & Co., as a watermark.
The name of the young republic was taken from the black flags
used by rebel leader Liu Yung-fu to rally his troops for battle,
first against the French and then against the Japanese. Liu
issued the stamps to raise much-needed funding for the nascent
republic. The museum includes a look at the history of stamps
issued by the ROC post office. In the past few decades, several
series of stamps have been printed to commemorate national
and local traits.

There are also issues that focus on
certain themes such as environmental protection, public health,
economic development and the impressive collection of ancient
Chinese artifacts at the National Palace Museum. Stamps are
even used to capture the island's natural and architectural
beauty, such as Tzuen Tower around Sun Moon Lake in central
Taiwan, Taroko National Park and the Tung Hai University church
in Taichung. Chunghwa Post kicked off 2003 by issuing a number
of stamps along five themes. The office issued a Souvenir
Sheet Jan. 1 marking its establishment as a company and a
series of commemorative stamps observing the one-year anniversary
of Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization. There
are also plans for postage stamps with themes of mountains,
fruits and caring hearts. The WTO stamp bears the organization's
seal and the image of a single candle, surrounded by colorful
lines, to symbolize this first birthday. It includes a map
of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu in white on a green-and-blue
background. The overall design of the stamp is meant to convey
Taiwan's atmosphere of vitality. Stamps featuring Mount Nanhu,
which borders Ilan, Hualien and Taichung counties, were released
Jan. 23 as part of a series on Taiwan's mountains. The first
and second sets, featuring Mount Jade and Mount Hsueh, were
issued in 2001 and 2002. With a peak of 3,742 meters, Nanhu
is the highest mountain in Taroko National Park and the fifth
highest on the island. It is the origin of the famous Lan
Yang Stream that flows through Ilan County.

The postage stamps featuring Mount
Nanhu include stunning views of the main peak, spring on Wuyen
Peak, snow on the adjacent Mount Chungyang chien, and Nanhu's
glacial cirques, which are semicircular crater-like amphitheatres.
On Feb. 24, the state-run postal company will issue stamps
on the theme of Taiwan fruit. Wax apples, kumquats, lemons
and coconuts will all be featured. Among these, wax apples,
lemons and coconuts are specialities from in the southern
county of Pingtung. The region's wax apples, sometimes called
black pearls, are popular throughout the island. A top-quality
wax apple can fetch over US$10 in Taiwan's bustling fruit
markets. Kumquats are a specialty of the northern region,
especially Ilan County. Taiwanese people have for many years
been using this fruit to make preserves, sauce, tea and throat
lozenges. The Council of Agriculture has chosen the small
fruit with the golden peel for promotion as a specialty product.
Some people believe that the kumquat is an auspicious symbol.
According to the company, Taiwan is an island that produces
fruit all year round - many of which are not only sweet and
juicy, but also quite unique. This will be the fourth time
stamps have been issued on this theme. Some other fruits that
have found their way to Taiwan stamps are litchi, plum, guava
and pomelo, which is a citrus related to the common grapefruit.

From Taipei Journal, Taiwan, 23 January
2003

Privatization Efforts Face Difficulty

Analysts pessimistic about pace of
asset sales in 2003 - Last year was not a good one for the
government's privatization plans - a host of important deals
fell through. But will 2003 be any better? Analysts are not
holding out much hope. "I think 2003 will be less successful
than 2002," said Radomir Jac, an analyst at Commerzbank.
"Last year we had the privatization of Transgas, which
meant that the privatization receipts were actually quite
high. But I don't expect anything like Transgas this year."
The National Property Fund (FNM), the agency that holds the
state's corporate assets, successfully sold monopoly natural
gas pipeline operator Transgas to German energy concern RWE
Gas in February last year, bringing in 4.1 billion euros (129.2
billion Kc/$4.3 billion) for the government. However, other
important privatizations faced serious setbacks. The government
abandoned selling power producer CEZ at the beginning of the
year. In September, Agrofert, the preferred buyer for a majority
stake in petrochemical giant Unipetrol, backed out of a deal
for that company. And in November, a consortium of Deutsche
Bank and Danish telecom TDC pulled out of an arrangement to
buy dominant fixed-line carrier Cesky Telecom (CT). In all,
the failed sales cost the government as much as 270 billion
Kc ($9 billion) in lost or delayed revenue. Analysts said
the government will have a tough year ahead because many of
the same issues that derailed deals last year are still obstacles
now. Without a radical change of approach from the state,
some said, it is unlikely that any of the three major privatizations
will be completed this year. Eva Novakova, a spokesperson
for the Finance Ministry, said the government would release
a new plan for privatizing both CT and Unipetrol by the end
of January; the plan is likely to include valuations on the
companies, conditions on how potential buyers can restructure
the companies and a timeline for completing the sales.

But Novakova said the ministry will
not announce any plans for CEZ until the Anti-Monopoly Office
(UOHS) has given its final verdict on a government plan to
merge the power producer with eight regional distributors.
UOHS announced a decision on that plan last December, but
CEZ is currently appealing the ruling, saying that it puts
too many restrictions on its future activities. The Finance
Ministry is also likely to push for CEZ and CT to pay dividends
during the course of 2003, to give the state some of the revenue
that it lost when the sales failed last year. Unipetrol sale
- Of the three major privatizations, Jac said the sale of
Unipetrol was the most likely. "It is the smallest and
easiest of the three," he said. The government announced
last year that it would hold a tender to pick a new adviser
to the company's privatization and that a tender for the sale
would take 12-18 months. MOL, Hungary's leading gas distributor,
and Rotch Energy, from the United Kingdom, have both expressed
interest. It has not yet been decided whether Unipetrol will
be privatized as a whole or subsidiary by subsidiary. A plan
to be introduced to the cabinet by Finance Minister Bohuslav
Sobotka advocates the former. Miroslav Zajicek, a senior research
fellow at the right-leaning economic think tank Liberal Institute,
said the government needs to be flexible if it wants to finalize
the deal. "If the government really wants to complete
the privatization of Unipetrol this year, it can do it,"
he said. "But it needs to stop putting so many conditions
on the sale." Zajicek added that the government should
hold a tender based on price, rather than on what he called
favoritism. In the case of the last tender for Unipetrol,
Rotch Energy lost to Czech company Agrofert even though Rotch
had bid a higher purchase price for the government's 67.6
percent stake.

Commerzbank's Jac said the sale of
CT is unlikely because there are few foreign companies currently
interested in acquiring telecom operators, and telecom valuations
have fallen sharply from the heady days of the late 1990s.
"I would expect reasonable progress with Cesky Telecom,
but I am skeptical about a sale," he said. Novakova said
the government is currently looking for ways to cover the
lost revenue from the failed sale of CT last year. "Cesky
Telecom will affect the discussion of the privatization plans
in two ways," she said. "It is likely that some
shares will be sold earlier and that there will be cuts to
the National Property Fund's expenses." CEZ stakes -
According to a report in the newspaper Mlada fronta Dnes,
the Finance Ministry is considering selling a 16 percent stake
in CEZ, its remaining 3 percent stake in Transgas, and shares
in mining companies Severoceske doly, Sokolovska uhelna and
OKD. Novakova added that plans for these sales would be part
of the Finance Ministry's announcement at the end of January,
though she refused to specify which companies are likely to
be on the sales block. The ministry also hasn't said whether
the sales would be made directly, to strategic investors,
or via a listing on the stock exchange. Among the National
Property Fund's other assets are controlling interests in
the national airline CSA, struggling railways operator Ceske
drahy, and the Nova hut steelworks, which is in the process
of being sold to Dutch group LNM Holdings. Officials at CSA
have said repeatedly that a privatization is currently out
of the question until at least 2004 because of the recent
problems in the airline industry. (Ben Schiller's e-mail address
is bschiller@praguepost.com )

From Prague Post, Czech Republic, by Ben
Schiller, 8 January 2003

Central/Eastern Europe:
Privatization Deals Hit Snags

Two major privatization deals have
fallen through in the Czech Republic in recent months. In
Bulgaria, two key state property sell-offs were suspended
last year due to alleged irregularities. Another sale of state
assets has run into trouble in Romania. What's going on? It
has happened with varying degrees of speed and been done in
different ways: Privatization is meant to fill state coffers
with cash and transform lumbering state monoliths into sleek,
competitive companies, banks, or factories. It's a win-win
situation, that is, as long as you're not a worker laid off
as part of downsizing. All over Central and Eastern Europe,
privatization has been a key pillar of the postcommunist economic
transition. But recent months have seen several major sell-offs
in the region stall or fall through. Long-running Czech plans
to sell the government's stake in telecom giant Cesky Telecom
collapsed at the end of November amid a price dispute between
bidders and minority shareholders. That followed the collapsed
privatization of Unipetrol, a large Czech petrochemical group,
after the local buyer couldn't come up with the money and
backed out. And earlier plans to sell the power sector in
one vast chunk fell through when the prospective French buyer
refused to raise its bid. In Bulgaria, the government found
buyers for stakes in the Bulgarian Telecommunications Company
and tobacco giant Bulgartabac. But late last year both sales
were suspended amid corruption charges. And Romania in December
couldn't find any bidders for the country's largest bank,
BCR, a sale that is a key part of an agreement between Romania
and the International Monetary Fund.

So what's going on? Is the region losing
its allure, or is it a temporary glitch? Analysts say there's
one factor affecting all countries in the region: the slowdown
in the world economy, particularly in Western Europe. Western
firms now have less money to spend, and governments in the
region simply took too long to put some of their property
up for sale. Gabor Hunya is a regional expert at the Vienna
Institute for International Economic Studies. "Mergers
and acquisitions - those kind of business takeovers that privatizations
are - in fact...declined [by] one-half last year worldwide,
compared to the peak two years ago. So it is a worldwide tendency
that international mergers are not taking place as frequently
as before, and it's also about the tendency that companies
in difficulties are more cautious in expanding to new territories,"
Hunya said. Another factor is that many of these countries
are reaching the tail end of privatization. What is left is
now proving tougher to sell, or was expected to take a long
time to privatize, like countries' energy sectors. Hunya said
that, to put it simply, there aren't enough buyers around.
"It's a matter of supply and demand, so for the time
being it seems that certain facilities, like telecom companies,
second-rate commercial banks, like steel plants, are in oversupply
in comparison with the demand for such companies. Because,
what is the demand side? The demand side is the major telecom
companies in the world. Just think of Deutsche Telecom, of
the worldwide problems of this branch, of overcapacities in
the steel sector, and so on," Hunya said. But there's
good news, too. Perhaps the surprise is that Central and Eastern
Europe did so well last year under tough conditions. Michael
Marrese is vice president and head of economic research for
emerging Europe at JPMorganChase bank in London.

He estimated that governments in the
region managed to privatize around two-thirds of what they
had planned. "There's no doubt that the slowdown in Europe
and the slowdown in equity markets and in company evaluations
worldwide hits Central and Eastern Europe, there's no doubt
about that - 100 percent. Now, in that very negative environment,
did we see still bidders for a number of companies - In Romania
and Bulgaria? The answer's 'yes.' In the Czech Republic and
Slovakia, something like natural-gas [companies were] sold
at very high prices, higher than expected," Marrese said.
So, there's no danger the region is losing its allure, analysts
say. There were concerns late last year that rising wages
might prompt some foreign manufacturers to move away from
the Czech Republic in search of cheaper labor costs. But there's
no sign yet of a mass exodus. And in any case, Hunya said,
rising prosperity can only increase the allure for investors
interested in privatization deals. "Most of the privatization
deals refer to the consumer-market-oriented companies, like
banks or telecoms, and so on, and in case of higher purchasing
power, actually, the demand for the products of these companies
is actually on the increase rather than the decrease,"
Hunya said. Despite the setbacks, some privatizations are
being relaunched and others are going ahead. The Czech government
is currently reinviting bids for Unipetrol. Bulgaria hopes
to sell DSK, the last bank in state hands, by March. And at
least two major foreign investors are vying for a stake in
the Polish steel group PHS, which is slated for privatization
this year. Tomos Packer, a regional analyst with the London-based
World Markets Research Centre, said the Bulgarian government
will be keen to press ahead in privatizing Bulgartabac, particularly
as it harshly criticized its predecessor for failing to do
so. "I think in 2003, as a matter of credibility, the
Bulgarian government will have to get this sale of Bulgartabac
on track. They've pretty much staked their reputation on the
fact that they could sort it out," Packer said. Analysts
say other governments, particularly the Czechs, are likely
to take more time, perhaps waiting for economic conditions
to pick up.

From Radio Free Europe, Czech Republic,
by Kathleen Knox, 9 January 2003

Turkish Government
Sees $4 Billion Privatization Revenue In 2003

Istanbul -Turkey will generate $4 billion
in 2003 through the privatization of state-owned companies
and industries, deputy prime minister Abdullatif Sener said
Monday at a press conference. Sener said Turkey has generated
$8 billion privatization revenues in the past 17 years, and
his government aims to achieve half of this in 2003 alone.
The 2003 privatization list includes long-term candidates
such as the state petrochemicals company Petkim (C.PPH), the
state refiner Tupras (C.TPT), and Turkish Airlines (C.THY).
Sener said an unspecified stake in Petkim will be offered
as a block sale to a strategic investor in the first quarter
of 2003. Similarly, an unspecified Tupras stake will be offered
in the second quarter, along with a stake in the state tobacco
and liquor monopoly Tekel. The sale of a stake in Turkish
Airlines is due in the third quarter. There was no stock market
reaction to the plan, as investors recalled many ambitious
privatization plans in the past that failed to achieve their
targets. Around 1410 GMT, the IMKB-100 share index was at
10298 points, up 0.9% on the day. In the short term, Iraq
uncertainties and the global economic glut are raising doubts
about the viability of Turkish privatizations.

Privatization has been an alien concept
in Turkey as the political and legal system has no sympathy
for private enterprise taking over traditionally state-owned
sectors. Moreover, Turkey hasn't yet ensured an investment
environment that would attract foreign direct investors. While
Turkey's International Monetary Fund backed economic reform
program is an attempt to ensure a safe investment environment,
the program itself has been on hold since Oct. 2002 as Turkey
hasn't fulfilled all its reform commitments. The undelivered
pledges include a privatization plan for Tekel, and 30,000
layoffs from state companies. Sener said the new plan may
affect 64,000 jobs, but said these workers would be ensured
pension rights. On the positive side, Turkey's Justice and
Development Party government, which took over after the November
general election, has a parliamentary majority that can override
any legal obstacles through new legislation. Sener also said
the government will privatize the Istanbul Stock Exchange
and the Istanbul Gold Exchange. On the long-standing privatization
of the state telecommunications monopoly Turk Telekom, Sener
said valuation of the company is still continuing. (By Selim
Atalay, Dow Jones Newswires; +90212 2313355; selim.atalay@dowjones.com).

From Yahoo News, 13 January 2003

St. Petersburg Sues
to Annul Privatization of Utility

The city of St. Petersburg is suing
to overturn the 1992 privatization of electric company Lenenergo,
threatening to mire the reform of the lumbering electricity
industry deeper in political intrigue. The St. Petersburg
city administration, which is led by an old adversary of President
Vladimir Putin, has filed a lawsuit challenging the utility's
partial privatization, St. Petersburg Deputy Governor Anna
Markova said Monday. The suit cites procedural violations,
she said. Markova said Lenenergo's property would be returned
to the government if the St. Petersburg arbitration court
rules in favor of the city administration. "The property
would be transferred to the federal government. Let the feds
decide what to do with it later. There is no conflict between
the city and Lenenergo," she said. St. Petersburg owns
no shares in Lenenergo, the utility that heats and powers
the city and the surrounding region. Lenenergo is controlled
by state power monopoly Unified Energy Systems. Both German
utility E.ON and Finnish Fortum own minority stakes in the
company. "The entire [power] industry is being reformed
right now, and as a result [Lenenergo's] assets could be lost
forever. This cannot happen," Markova said without elaborating.
"We think this lawsuit will be very serious," she
said. Russia's regional heads are seen as fierce opponents
of national power reform, which will see UES broken up into
separate grid and generating companies and prices freed up.

The carve-up is one part of a government
scheme for bottom-up reform of public utilities that aims
to spark the renewal of a major industry and spare Russians
the heat and power cuts that have crippled some cities and
towns this winter. But that weakens a favorite political lever
of regional leaders - cheap electricity for constituents.
Many have reluctantly signed off on the reform, but a few
opponents remain despite Kremlin efforts to rein in rebellious
regional governors and force them to back it. Putin's Kremlin
has launched a fresh round of economic reforms, but is now
loath to take on remaining opponents before December 2003
State Duma elections. St. Petersburg Governor Vladimir Yakovlev,
who was a rival of Putin from the 1990s when they were both
senior bureaucrats in the St. Petersburg administration, is
seen as one of Russia's most powerful regional chieftains.
His sometime political ally, flamboyant Moscow Mayor Yury
Luzhkov, has already struck a deal under which power distribution
grids belonging to UES's Moscow subsidiary Mosenergo will
be transferred to the city government in the reform. In return,
the city will give some of its own utility assets to Mosenergo
successor companies. But analysts said the real price was
the influential mayor's backing for draft legislation that
is needed to set the complex electricity reform measures in
law. The bills passed a first reading in October after Luzhkov's
allies agreed to back them. Its crucial second reading has
been delayed several times, and centrist legislators have
said they doubt it will pass this month. St. Petersburg has
already built distribution grids that bypass Lenenergo's power
lines.

From Moscow Times, Russia, by Konstantin
Trifonov, 13 January 2003

Bulgaria Presents Russia
with New Privatization Plan for Energy Sector

The Bulgarian government has presented
Russia with a new plan for privatizing the Bulgarian energy
sector. According to the Bulgarian cabinet's press office,
the plan would provide tax breaks for Russian energy companies
working in Bulgaria. The plan is expected to be examined at
a meeting of the joint Russian-Bulgarian commission on privatization
at the end of April. According to the Bulgarian government,
a number of branches of the country's economy are currently
undergoing a profound economic crisis, which can only be overcome
with the help of foreign investment.

From Rosbalt, Russia, 24 January 2003

Ramezanzadeh: Government firm on
expediting privatization

Tehran - The government is expediting
its 'logical' drive for privatization despite infrastructural
bottlenecks and bureaucratic maze and is firm on proceeding
with the program. "Executive operations for privatization
and ceding the shares of state-run companies got off to a
sluggish start at the beginning of the current Iranian year
(on March 21, 2002) and has gained momentum in recent months;
and the trend is justifiable," said government spokesman
Abdollah Ramezanzadeh in his weekly press briefing on Wednesday.
The government plans to vigorously follow its privatization
program next year and spend its revenues on implementing development
and infrastructural projects, said the government spokesman.
The 107-billion-dollar budget bill, devised by the State Management
and Planning Organization (SMPO) for the next Iranian calendar
year of 1382 (March 21, 2003-March 20, 2004), envisions borrowing
and selling participation bonds to spend the revenue on development
projects. It is widely believed - by certain SMPO officials
- there are discrepancies in the bill and the government would
not be able to meet the set targets despite borrowings and
sale of the partnership securities. The 1382 budget authorizes
over dlrs two billion borrowing for full implementation of
semi-finished development projects as well as raising the
output in manufacturing and production sectors.

From IRNA, Iran, 01 January 2003

Industry Ministry Approves
5 Incubators for Privatization Pilot

Three more incubators are in the final
stages of the approval process. Assessment: 55% of incubator
projects received outside funding. The Ministry of Industry
and Trade incubator administration has approved five incubators
to operate under the privatization pilot model. Three more
incubators are in the final stages of the approval process.
The five incubators are: Orit Technological R&D Center
Ltd. in Ariel; Initiative Center for the Negev in Beer Sheva;
Meytag Technology Incubator in Katzrin; Ofakim Innovative
Technologies; and NGT in Nazareth, established as the first
incubator in the Arab sector. The three incubators for which
privatization is pending are Target Technology Center in Netanya;
Nitzanim Initiative Center in Yavne; and Patir R&D Ltd.
in Jerusalem. Outside investors must pledge an incubator at
least $300,000 in investment a year for three years, regardless
of the number of projects at the incubator. They must also
pledge to finance five projects a year for three years. The
total commitment is $2-2.5 million. The incubators budget
has been $135 million a year for the past five years, which
is likely to grow following the start of the privatization
pilot program. Technical Incubators Program director Rina
Pridor told "Globes" that the ministry carefully
examines investors interested in participating in the privatization
of the incubators. Several investors were found to lack the
financial resources to ensure follow-on investments in the
incubators, or lacked the necessary know-how. She said Israeli
and foreign investors received the same consideration in the
approval process. However, one condition is that the incubators
must operate in Israel. Pridor said preliminary assessments
of the incubators' activities in 2002 showed that 55% of incubator
projects received outside funding, slightly fewer than in
2001, but not a level that could be called a collapse. The
incubators' record year for external financing was 2000, when
75% of projects received funding from outside sources.

From Globes (www.globes.co.il), by Sapir
Peretz and Gilad Nass, 9 January 2003

Privatization of Postal
Sector 'a Big Success'

Riyadh - The privatization of the postal
services has been running successfully, with some 100 agencies
set up by the private sector, according to a senior official
in the Ministry of Posts, Telephones and Telegraphs. Dr. Khaled
Al-Otaibi, director general of posts, said the number of inhabitants
served by each postal employee increased from 2,200 to 2,244
since the launch of the privatization program. The percentage
of delivery mails within 48 hours also went up from 74 to
78 percent. "We are looking forward to making the maximum
use of modern technology, particularly through the Internet,
which helps in tracing the mail from receiving to delivery,"
Dr. Al-Otaibi said in his preface to the annual statistical
report of the directorate general of posts for the year 2001.
He said the postal department handled 939 million local and
international mails, besides 1.54 million express mails and
over 665,000 parcels. The total postal coverage reached 6.264
towns and villages across the Kingdom through 461 government-run
post offices, 185 branch offices, 72 private post offices,
770 postal agencies and 97 express mail centers. According
to the director general, the privatization scheme has contributed
to the growth of the private sector. He said private post
offices earn 15 percent commission from the sale of ordinary
and commemorative stamps. Their earnings also include 20 percent
commission for franking letters and 100 percent of the charges
for subscriber boxes. The business has turned out to be lucrative,
since each agency handles at least 1,000 boxes. He said the
overseas mail constitutes 54.5 percent of the total mail service.
The statistics revealed that the volume of mail was declining
with the switchover to the e-mail as the means of communication.

From Arab News, by Javid Hassan, 10 January
2003

A Privatization of
Moment in Iran

After about a year of deliberations,
on January 8 the Iranian Deputy Minister of Economic and Financial
Affairs, Mehdi Karbassian, announced his government's decision
to privatize all Iranian banks, excluding the National Bank
of Iran (Bank-e Melli Iran). If fully implemented, this economic
initiative will have a major long-term impact not just on
Iran's economy, but also on its political system. Prior to
the 1979 Islamic revolution, all major banks (some 15 units)
were privately owned institutions, excluding the National
Bank of Iran and the Sepah Bank (Bank-e Sepah). As part of
the politically motivated economic plan aimed at eliminating
big business, the revolutionary regime confiscated all large
enterprises, including the private banks, which were subsequently
merged into a few super-large government-run banks. For the
same reason, the Iranian private sector lost its right to
establish banks. That law remained in effect until about year
ago despite the introduction of an economic liberalization
plan in the second half of the 1990s. Under heavy pressure
of economic realities, ie, the clearly-evident inability of
the public sector to run the financial institutions and the
inefficiency of the public banks, the Iranian regime had to
accept a degree of private banking about a year ago. As a
result, the Central Bank of Iran authorized the establishment
of a few financial institutions with limited banking functions,
mainly in the form of savings companies operating at the city
level. Facing numerous economic difficulties caused mainly
by the mismanagement of the Iranian economy since 1979, the
devastating impact of the Iran-Iraq War (1980-88) and various
economic sanctions, the Iranian government has had to accept
its inability to continue the existing economic system. The
latter is characterized by a very large public sector in control
of about 80 percent of the economy directly or indirectly
through various foundations benefiting of all the available
public resources, including funding, but run by the ruling
elite as private corporations.

Attached to this, there is an elite-created
post-revolutionary big business in practical monopoly of all
the major economic activities taking place in the private
realm. High and growing unemployment,
officially about 15 percent, but unofficially close to double
it, low investments, rising prices and rampant corruption
have been just a few major outcomes of the post-1979 economic
policy. Given this undesirable situation, with a weakening
impact on the Iranian regime's legitimacy, the Iranian government
has sought to address some of the economic problems over the
past few years. Its two major objectives have been to stop
capital flight from Iran to safer places such as the United
Arab Emirates and Western countries and to encourage both
domestic and foreign investments. Added to accelerating the
privatization of small and medium-size public enterprises,
which began in the early 1990s to a limited extent, the government
has been successful in a few areas. They include the stabilization
of the value of Iran's currency (rial), the elimination of
the multiple exchange rates, an increase in Iranian foreign
exchange reserves (about $15 billion in January 2003) and
a decrease in its foreign debt to about $6.5 billion. While
being far from ideal, the achieved degree of financial stability
was a major domestic factor in the repatriation to Iran of
about $7 billion of Iranian capital held mainly in the United
States, apart from a growing concern about the safety of financial
assets of Middle Eastern businesspeople in the United States
and Europe in the post-September 11 era. In
such an economic environment, the Iranian government made
its bank privatization decision. According to Karbassian,
it has already determined the "necessary framework"
for transferring the public banks to the private sector, but
he did not elaborate.

However, he added that the only remaining
barrier to implementing the privatization plan was to decide
on "a method of transfer", which he predicted to
be determined "in some days". He
added that Iranian President Mohammad Khatami's cabinet would
most probably finalize all the privatization plan's details
in the next Iranian month beginning on January 21. Afterwards,
the government would take "a practical measure to achieve
this objective", ie, to implement the plan. It is not
yet clear when the actual privatization will begin. Nor is
it clear whether the banks will be privatized as they are
now or as they were before 1979, which requires their division
into their forming units. Yet it is almost certain that there
should not be a mad scramble for their purchase on the part
of would-be buyers unless the Iranian government addresses
certain deficiencies that detract from their attractiveness.
Thanks to years of mismanagement, Iranian banks have various
major financial difficulties, including the following ones,
in addition to an economically insensible number of personnel.
Reportedly, many of them have been operating at loss for a
long time. By and large, they suffer from large debts and
gigantic bad loans granted to many publicly owned economic
entities, various foundations and many influential individuals
with strong ties to the top echelon of the Iranian regime.
These loan-holders are either unwilling or unable to pay their
debts due to bankruptcies or shortages of funds.

dditionally, many existing restrictions
on the free movement of capital inside Iran and between that
country and its foreign economic partners as well as foreign
currency restrictions impede banking transactions. Nevertheless,
if everything goes well, the privatization of banks will have
a fundamental impact on the Iranian economy. By addressing
the absence of a reliable and predictable financial sector
independent from the Iranian government and accountable to
private investors, this initiative should help remove a major
barrier to the growth of the Iranian private sector whose
growth has been retarded by the Iranian regime since 1979.
As well, a large private banking system will likely accelerate
the slow-paced privatization of the gigantic public sector
by providing a reliable source of capital for privatized enterprises.
If fully implemented, the privatization initiative will weaken
the practical economic monopoly of the Iranian ruling elite
despite the wish of its planners. As a growing number of Iranians
question the legitimacy of their political system, any weakening
of its economic basis will have an inevitable accelerating
impact on the Iranian people's desire for a fundamental change
in their country's political system. (Dr. Hooman Peimani works
as an independent consultant with international organizations
in Geneva and does research in international relations.)

From Asia Times Online, by Hooman Peimani,
10 January 2003

Privatization Must
Go With Increased Competition in Banking Sector

Tehran - 'Iran News' on Tuesday focused
on the recent announcement of Iran's Minister of Economy and
Finance Tahmasb Mazaheri that Iranian banks are soon to be
privatized and sold to interested investors in the Tehran
Stock Exchange Privatizing government sectors is imperative
in all fields of the Iranian economy, including the banking
sector, highlighted the English-language daily in its editorial.
But just privatizing for the sake of doing so will not solve
the problems. Denationalizing of government sectors must be
accompanied with increased competition in the banking sector,
it added. However, the daily stressed, so long as the government
controls, mandates and dictates its terms and conditions to
the banks, there will no real competition among the sectors.
Private banks will suffer disadvantages since state-run banks
will not be eliminated from the scene and remain a force and
rival to private sector banks, pointed out the daily. Furthermore,
the Mostazafan and Jaanbazan Foundation (MJF), the largest
state-owned foundation in Iran which has enormous financial
resources, is also considered a powerful rival to private
sector banking in the country, the article added. Another
area of ambiguity about the genuineness Mazaheri's statement
is whether the government will allow the top executives of
these privatized banks to emerge from the private sector or
whether the government actually intends to pick the directors
of these banks itself, it pointed out. Last but not the least,
the fact that the government controls the hard currency rate
of exchange will create many problems and crises for the non-public
sector. In addition, the daily added, the decision-making
process will be unclear and negatively affected in the future
taking into account that the private sector has major concerns
and lacks the requisite confidence regarding a fixed rate
of hard currency. In light of the above-stated facts, it is
insufficient for the government to just announce that plans
to privatize the banking system are underway, pointed out
the paper. The devil is in the details and the public expect
the country's economic officials to be accountable and answer
the legitimate questions raised on this subject by the experts
as well as the public at large, the daily stressed in conclusion.

From IRNA, Iran, 15 January 2003

Government to Speed
Up Privatization Next Year

Tehran - Deputy Head of the State Management
and Planning Organization for Legal Affairs Gholam-Reza Tajgardun
said here Tuesday that government is to speed up the privatization
process in the next Iranian year of 1382 (starting March 21).
Tajgardun told IRNA that note four of Article 88 of next year's
budget bill stipulates ceding affairs to non-government sector
and unconditional privatization. He said the part of the note
relating to the education sector calls for schools' management
by private sector.

From IRNA, Iran, 21 January 2003

U.S. Postal Chief Says Privatization
not Feasible

Washington - Plenty of companies might
be eager to deliver the mail on Wall Street or the Loop in
Chicago, but few would fancy making deliveries to places off
the beaten path, the head of the U.S. Postal Service told
a presidential panel on Wednesday. Postmaster General John
Potter told the nine-member commission charged with modernizing
the 228-year-old agency that it had recently considered privatization
and concluded that no business would covet delivering just
a few pieces of mail each day to each American household.
Potter said there were parts of the Postal Service that were
commercially desirable but "there are some segments that
no one in their right mind would want." The postal service
delivers mail to 139 million locations across the country
and adds nearly 2 million new addresses each year. Fifteen
percent of locations receive the bulk of the mail, subsidizing
losses on the remainder, Potter said. "When we thought
about a privatized model, we came to the conclusion that that
is inconsistent with the mandate of universal service,"
he told the first meeting of the commission that was appointed
by President Bush in December. The Bush administration, pushing
for the first major overhaul of the postal service since the
1970s, has urged the commission to propose a new mail pricing
system and consider all options, including privatizing or
even eliminating Saturday mail deliveries.

Mail volume continues to drop - "I
hope you will look around the world where governments have
privatized large portions of the delivery mechanism,"
U.S. Treasury Under Secretary Peter Fisher told the panel.
The Treasury Department is providing staffing and funding
to the commission. The postal service has been lobbying Congress
for more autonomy to set mailing rates and began overhauling
its operations under a plan unveiled last year, cutting 23,000
jobs and consolidating sorting facilities. Despite announcing
on Tuesday a $1 billion profit for its first fiscal quarter
after three money-losing years, the postal service faces long-term
pressure from e-mail and commercial package delivery services.
Mail volume continued to drop in the agency's 2002 fiscal
year, falling to 203 billion pieces from 207 billion pieces
in the previous year. The service warned last month it may
have to apply for another rate increase in April following
one last year. The post office said in November it had been
overpaying its pension plan and wanted to apply the excess
cash to its operations, but that requires Congressional approval.
"There is not a current crisis today in the postal service,"
said Harry Pearce, chairman of Hughes Electronics Corp. who
is co-charing the commission with James Johnson, a former
chief executive of mortgage finance company Fannie Mae. "But
the future, given the (financial situation) ... could be very
different if we don't find a new vision for the postal service
and examine a new business model," said Pearce. "It's
a daunting challenge."

From Forbes, by Christopher Doering, 9 January
2003

Thirst for Privatization

With more than 1.1 billion people worldwide
lacking access to safe drinking water, governments are increasingly
turning to the private sector for help - The World Bank, in
1998, called privatization "a defining feature of the
last two decades." Popular candidates for early privatizations
included telecommunications and electric power utilities.
Water and wastewater utilities soon followed, haltingly at
first and then with greater momentum. If water was, as the
Financial Times's John Barham suggested in 1997, "the
last frontier in privatization around the world," it
was a frontier that was being aggressively explored. That
year, World Water and Environmental Engineering noted "a
seemingly irreversible and rising tide of private sector involvement
in the provision of water supply and sewage treatment services
all around the globe." By the end of 2000, at least 93
countries had partially privatized water or wastewater services
or were in the process of doing so. Privatizers appeared in
all regions of the world. They included local, provincial,
or national governments in North America's three countries,
23 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, 20 in Europe,
30 in Africa and the Middle East, and 17 in Asia and the Far
East. Private water companies now serve vast numbers of consumers.
The two largest companies, Suez and Vivendi, each provide
water and/or wastewater services to 110 million people. Pragmatism,
rather than ideology, drives most privatizations. Although
impressed by the successes of Margaret Thatcher's government
in the United Kingdom, many subsequent privatizers do not
share her conservative philosophy. Indeed, even staunchly
communist governments are privatizing. Cuba has formed a joint
venture with a Spanish water company to develop and operate
drinking water systems for three cities over the next 25 years.
China has signed contracts for the construction and operation
of three water supply systems and has contracted out the operation
of at least 20 other water and wastewater facilities.

Vietnam has given two Malaysian-led
consortia long-term contracts to build and operate a water
pipeline and two treatment plants for Ho Chi Minh City. First
and foremost, developing countries are turning to the private
sector out of sheer, desperate need. More than 1.1 billion
people lack access to safe drinking water and almost 2.5 billion
lack adequate sanitation. Although estimates of the costs
of providing universal access to water and sanitation facilities
vary widely, they inevitably exceed current or planned public
expenditures. The World Water Council estimates that annual
investment must increase to US$75-billion from US$30-billion.
Governments that cannot on their own finance or build the
necessary infrastructure are increasingly calling on the private
sector for help. Although governments in the developed world
have greater resources and face far more manageable demands,
many are nonetheless attracted to private capital. Private
sector investment obviates governments' needs to borrow or
to raise taxes, reducing their financial and political liabilities.
It frees up public capital for competing uses. It moves financial
risks away from the public purse. It is also likely to be
used more efficiently than public infrastructure spending,
reducing overall capital costs. Many governments privatize
to increase the effectiveness of their water and wastewater
systems. Whether they are struggling to provide rudimentary
service, to stem water losses, or to comply with advanced
health and environmental standards, they turn to firms whose
many years of experience and large investments in research
and development have enabled them to develop a degree of expertise
rarely found in the public sector. Governments that privatize
also want to improve the economic performance of their utilities.

The pursuit of job creation or other
social goals has left many public utilities over-staffed and
inefficient. Free from public-sector practices that hinder
productivity and innovation, and able to take advantage of
expertise and economies of scale, the private sector enjoys
greater latitude to pursue efficiencies. Disciplined by competition
(increasingly, not only for the market but also in the market)
and capital markets, it has powerful incentives to do so.
Privatization may correct other inefficiencies as well: those
associated with the underpricing of water and wastewater services.
Politicized decision making in the public sector distorts
the relationship between prices and costs and encourages subsidies
to various interest groups. Shifting responsibility to the
private sector often allows governments to discontinue subsidies.
In a fully competitive, or alternatively, a well-regulated
system, competition or regulation set prices that better reflect
costs. Governments have fewer reasons to oppose accurate pricing
- the private providers take most of the heat for price increases
- and, in any case, have little authority to interfere with
the markets' or regulators' decisions. Privatization also
allows for the de-politicization of environmental and health
regulation. Governments that own, operate, and finance water
and wastewater utilities cannot properly regulate them. All
too often, conflicts of interest prevent them from enforcing
compliance with laws and regulations. Privatization reduces
those conflicts, freeing regulators to regulate and increasing
the accountability of all parties.

Enforceable contracts further increase
accountability. Contracts with specific performance criteria
provide governments with powerful tools to compel compliance.
Contracts can guarantee water quality, maintenance levels,
and capital expenditures. They can require financial assurance.
And they can include financial penalties for non-compliance.
For the above reasons, governments in the developing and developed
worlds alike have come to accept that their core function
is to "steer rather than row." Rather than owning,
operating, and financing water and sewage works, they are
setting policy. Rather than providing services, they are regulating
them. The results of this shift have often - but not always
- been impressive. The owners, operators, funders, and regulators
of Canada's water and wastewater systems have much to learn
from other jurisdictions' experiments with privatization.
And they have no shortage of reasons to conduct experiments
of their own. Across the country, thousands of facilities
fail to comply with laws and standards. Many are inefficiently
run: Some are grossly overstaffed; others are staffed by insufficiently
trained operators. Many are in need of costly upgrades. Water
charges are insufficient to cover these costs. Clearly, many
systems would benefit from the capital investment, expertise,
efficiency, and accountability that privatization can bring.
(Elizabeth Brubaker is executive director of Environment Probe.
This article is excerpted from Liquid Assets: Privatizing
and Regulating Canada's Water Utilities, published by the
University of Toronto's Centre for Public Management. E-mail:
ElizabethBrubaker@nextcity.com).

From National Post, Canada, 9 January 2003

Country View a Privatization
Success Story

Waterloo - County supervisors Brian
Quirk and Leon Mosley can hardly agree on anything. But they
agreed on one thing 6 1/2 years ago. They both had serious
doubts about bringing in a private company to manage Black
Hawk County's Country View care facility. And they agree on
at least one thing today. Privatizing Country View's management
was a good thing. For the county, for the staff and for the
residents there. As the two senior members of the Board of
Supervisors, Democrat Quirk and Republican Mosley were both
in office when Continuum Health Services was hired in mid-1996
to manage Country View. Mosley voted against hiring Continuum.
Quirk supported it, though he was the most skeptical of its
backers and the swing in the board's 3-2 vote to hire the
Ankeny-based company. "Going into it, I was not a Continuum
fan," Quirk said. "I was going to resist and fight."
By his own admission, he was the most confrontational during
Continuum CEO Tim Mortenson's initial presentations in early
1996. "Fast-forward about a month, I kind of bought into
the philosophy," Quirk said. "This was after a lot
of close-door sessions with Sonia (Johannsen, former county
supervisor) and I battling back and forth, and some others
who are experts in the health field. ... Their goal was to
bring some stability to the 220 employees, the 168 clients,
and to try to decrease employee grievances and stuff like
that." The goal "wasn't to find a $50,000 department
head. It was to bring some normalcy to the facility,"
Quirk said. "I switched because (Mortenson) talked a
good game, and he certainly backed it up. "We weren't
willing to close the place down. We had clients and 220 employees.
This seemed to be a good compromise. Continuum and Tim knew
health care in that kind of setting. They knew how to do it."
Quirk acknowledged that Continuum has rotated administrators
at Country View. "It's the nature of the beast,"
he said. "Regardless of which person you have in there,
they're very committed. Tim has to train them, Tim has to
make sure they know the regulations."

Rotating within the system of Continuum-managed
facilities keeps them fresh. Quirk also said the succession
of Continuum administrators has been far less contentious
and stressful than the firings, litigation and state-imposed
facility citations and fines under which some of the previous
county-employed administrators from 1987-91 had departed.
"Any time you have a 24/7 facility you're going to have
problems," Quirk said. "Personally, I've had close
friends, I've had family members, at Country View, where prior
to '92 I wouldn't have done that. "I believe in what
they're doing," he said. "I'd be a hypocrite if
I worked to keep that facility" as a county official,
and personally tried to get friends or family to go elsewhere.
'No more trouble' - Mosley voted against Continuum because
of cost concerns and fearing ongoing problems. "At first,
I thought it was going to cost us a bunch of money,"
he said. "I figured instead of having Continuum, hire
a person and have the board have total control over that person
to make sure the place is run properly." However, he
said, "Ever since we've had Continuum I've been thoroughly
pleased and happy. So my fears were unfounded. "Number
one, no more lawsuits, no more trouble," Mosley said,
referring to the administrative turnover and state fines from
1987-92. "Everything seems to be working fine out there.
As far as I'm concerned, it's running smooth now. I really
appreciate that, because (prior to Continuum) that was the
one place I had to go whenever we had a problem. I was called
out there all the time." Those calls have stopped, he
said. Country View came back on the radar screen recently
amid a mini-tempest over finding adequate liability insurance
coverage. Those costs tripled, with the annual premium topping
$100,000. Once again, as was the case five and 10 years ago,
rumblings of sale, further privatization or closure came up,
though they were quickly quashed. "We don't favor closing
the facility down; we're not in favor of privatizing anything
else at this time," Quirk said.

At least one employee suggested it's
time for Country View to assert itself, instead of waiting
for some future crisis. "I think the biggest need I see
is being more involved in the community," said Steve
Kohl, a program coordinator in the mentally retarded unit.
"People in this facility can work at supported jobs in
the community," Kohl said. "Assembly jobs, janitorial
jobs, mailing." There's a number of jobs residents perform
on site, such as the regular disposal of outdated confidential
county records. The facility could use more volunteer help
from the general public, said former County Supervisor Craig
White, who put in a lot of time at the facility during his
one term on the county board. Crumbling sidewalks need to
be fixed, and a relatively steep incline at the entrance needs
to be corrected for elderly and people using wheelchairs.
"One of the things I'm going to follow through on for
next year with volunteers for is a shelter," White said,
a secure outdoor area for residents to enjoy outdoor activities
and possibly a gazebo. "Just some things to make it more
like home. Because it is these people's home," White
said. Where the heart is - Continuum's administrator, Sherri
Niles, knows it is the county-employed 225-member staff that
makes Country View a home for its 167 residents. While the
general public hardly gives Country View a conscious thought,
she said staff members can't get it out of their minds, at
or away from the facility. They make roughly as much as a
telemarketer or packing house worker. But there's a difference
beyond the numbers behind the dollar sign on the paycheck.
"It's not easy to shut this off when you go home,"
Niles said. "Most of the people here will tell you it's
a 24/7 proposition, and they're in it knowing that's the way
it is. "Not necessarily working here in the building
every single day," she said. "But I bet if you polled
them, they'd tell you they think about the place at least
two to three times even on their day off." It's the residents
that are on their minds. "If they've got somebody in
critical condition," Niles said. "If they've got
somebody that's going out.

There may be a new staff member that
doesn't know Jane likes to have her fork on the right instead
of the left, and she needs a green glass to be happy in life.
Those are the things that are important." Photographs
are an important, popular item with residents. Not just any
pictures. Polaroids. The kind that instantly develop, they
can see right away and can be posted on bulletin boards. In
rooms. Under coffee-table glass in community rooms. It's an
affirmation of home and family, just the same as any family
album. "We're a unique facility in that a lot of our
residents have been here for a very long time," Niles
said. "And so, this is their home. This is their family.
This isn't the long-term care they came to at the end of their
life. This is their home and their family. The majority of
our staff has been here a long time, and are very committed
to taking care of our residents." That includes activities
like taking residents shopping, or for music-in-the park outings,
or to the National Cattle Congress fair. "Residents look
forward to that for weeks and months before that happens.
And wouldn't it be sad if they never got a chance to do that
after they came here? It says something about the fact our
staff is committed to do the extra stuff," Niles said.
"If you ask any of them, I bet the number one thing they
tell you is they want to make a difference," she said.
"They like taking care of people that can't take care
of themselves. You laugh together, you cry together, you go
through the births, you go through the marriages, you go through
the divorces. You go through the deaths. "And it's very
important to have that kind of feeling, (like) in the old
days when it was still family taking care of family. We still
have that, even if our names aren't the same. The feeling
is still the same. They belong to me. They're my residents.
I take responsibility for taking care of them. It's very important
to me," Niles said. "I can say it. I mean it. But
it's the people on the floor that actually enact it. Every
single day."